Triangular Hallway
by Aquailita
Summary: When the yamis get themselves into a very hot situation, something happens to the Millenium items. A few days after they escape, the yami/hikari pairs discover something: all of their minds have been linked! Things get complicated as walls of privacy are erased, secrets are discovered, and relationships are altered. Full Summary inside! Read the prologue "A Volcanic Escape" first!
1. P1, C1: Never Friends Again?

Summary: When Yami Yugi, Yami Bakura, and Yami Marik all get themselves into a very _hot_ situation (No, not _THAT_ kind of hot!), something happens to the Millenium items. When they escape, they all go their separate ways and agree never to do anything with each other ever again. None of them realize that something has happened to their Millenium items that will change that. One day, while talking to each other in their soul hallways, each of the yami/hikari pairs discover the result of that thing: all of their minds have been linked. Things get very complicated as certain walls of privacy are erased, certain secrets and powers are discovered, and relationships are altered. Could end up having eventual: thief, tender, dark, klepto, psycho, angst, clash, bronze, puzzle...(the list goes on! there are 15. I did the math) shipping.

Rating: T, Rated for language and violence.

Characters: Yami Yugi, Yami Marik, Yami Bakura, Yugi Muto, Marik Ishtar, and Ryou Bakura.

* * *

**[Edit: I changed the rating description above to saying it might become M. Because it wont. Because I dont do M's." I also did a few edits on the chapter itself.]**

**Sup! Another one.** **I mean, another idea that randomly happened that I decided to just throw here and see how it goes. I feel like I have too many of those...**

**I said that I would be posting this chapter this morning, but I didn't. Sorry. Here it is.**

**So yeah, the Millenium items, in my headcanon, are made of gold. Gold is a metal... Now look at the description...** **AHHHHHHHH...** ***winks***

**There might be certain Marik, Yugi, and Bakura-related shipping combinations later on, but the only pairings I truly ship are: Thief, Tender, and Puzzle. I don't know how things will turn out. Maybe yes maybe no. We'll see. But don't assume anything!**

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik' (even though I never actually use 'Malik' for either of them),. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura . Yami Bakura is 'Bakura' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is the first official chapter, and chapter part, of Triangular Hallway. IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, PLEASE READ "The Volcanic Escape: a Prologue to Triangular Hallway" FIRST! ****In the prologue, the three yamis almost died trying to escape the ****inside of a volcano. They vowed never to hang out with each other ever ****again. But that is about to change. Because something happened in the ****volcano that none of them realized.**

**How it will work: There will be parts, and chapters of parts. This is Part 1, chapter 1. Okay? Okay. **

**Okay here we go...**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**PART 1**

Back Home

* * *

**Chapter 1  
**Never Friends Again?

* * *

Yugi was quietly sitting in his room one afternoon, examining the Millenium Puzzle. In the past, he had occasionally considered taking it apart again, just so he could re-solve it for fun. But he didn't, for obvious reasons.

He suddenly felt a small wave of sadness leak into his mind. But it hadn't come from him. So it must be...

Yugi zoned out and retreated into his mind.

His room faded out of sight and faded back into his shared soul hallway. He looked at both doors. His own was open all the way. However, Yami's door was slightly ajar. He walked over to it and pushed it open slowly.

"Pharaoh?" he called out.

He heard a small gasp from a corner of the room. He looked and found his yami sitting in a chair silently. He looked up. "Yugi?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Yugi said to him. "You feeling down? I felt it."

Yami looked away. "Nothing much. Just thinking about that trip..."

"Oh." Yami had told Yugi a bit about his adventure with the other sides of Marik and Bakura a few days ago. "What about?"

"Well some of it _was_ my fault..."

"Like what?" On the way back home, Marik, Bakura, and Yugi had taken over again, probably because their other halves were tired. But yesterday, Yami had told Yugi some of what went on. But only the basics, and no details. "What did you do?"

"Well for one, it was my idea to go there. And I probably was the one that almost caused us to fall in and loose our Millenium Items, which would have been a bad thing for all of us."

"How so?"

"If me and Bakura had lost the Puzzle and the Ring, then you and the real Bakura would have taken over again. And I don't trust your safety in Malik's hands. Or your friend's. You know that."

"Yes, but you don't have to feel guilty about it." Yugi walked closer to Yami and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's over now and everyone is alright."

Yami sighed. "I know that, Yugi. But I just can't help but feel like I always get everyone around us into unnecessarily dangerous situations that have something to do with ancient secrets and societies. And this one almost got us all killed. Even the Shadow Realm would be better than that. At least there's a way back from the Shadow Realm..."

Yami sighed again and walked away from Yugi. "And since I always seem to drag your friends into things they don't need to risk themselves for, Malik, the evil Bakura, and I all decided to have nothing to do with each other from that point on."

Yugi gasped. "What do you mean by that? I can't hang out with Bakura or Marik anymore?"

Yami quickly turned around, before Yugi could continue. "No. Not like that. I mean that the three of us, the yamis, won't ever meet each other. We promised not to. So I'm just going to sever my friendship with Bakura and Marik, before I drag them into something more. I've already caused enough trouble in Marik's life, and Bakura suffers at the hands of his evil side because of his rivalry with me. So I am hoping that if I don't come out when they're around, things will return to normal. You understand, right? You always tell the others to stay behind sometimes because you don't want to put them in danger. So I'm just staying away from Marik and Bakura. Also, two or more yamis do have the tendency to get into a lot of trouble when they're with each other. So you can still be friends with Marik and Bakura, but I can't."

Yugi listened quietly throughout the whole thing, then sighed sadly when he was done. "I knew you felt like that sometimes, but I never realized how strongly you felt about it."

"I know... I never did tell you that much about it did I? But anyway... Did you notice something off about this place?"

"Hey! No fair changing the subject!"

Yami ignored the accusation and looked around the room. "I'm being serious, Yugi. Something about our mind seems a bit... Off. Wouldn't you say?"

Yugi looked around and tried to see what Yami meant. Then he felt it. Something _did_ seem off about the place. But what? "Yeah... Something does feel a bit strange." He left the room and went into his own soul room. "I feel it here too... Is Yami Bakura in here again?"

Yami shook his head. "Thankfully, I know for a fact that he's not. Yesterday, I made sure that I removed the part of his soul he had stashed in here."

"Maybe it has to do with the Puzzle itself then? It _is_ connected to your mind after all."

"The Puzzle?" Yami asked. "Why? Did something happen to it? Yugi..." Yami have Yugi an accusatory stare. "Have you been considering re-solving the Puzzle for fun again?"

"Ahehehehehe..." Yugi laughed nervously. "No, not at all. But I did notice a little rough spot on the eye symbol thing and in one of the cracks between the pieces."

"What?! That's not possible. The Millenium items are all perfectly created and have no scratches or anything. When did you notice this?"

"When I was looking at it a few minutes ago."

"Well..." Yami also left his soul room and looked around. He looked to either side of their soul hallway and gasped at what he saw. "What's this?"

"What? What is it?" Yugi exited his room and also looked. He, too, gasped at the sight.

Before, the hallway had no end. There was simply nothing there. Now, the hallway actually ended, and seemed to turn in another direction and lead somewhere else? But where?

* * *

_"Ryou..."_

Bakura gasped when he heard his yami talking to him in his mind.

_"Y-Yami?"_

Ryou suddenly felt his body slip out of his control. He cried out in his mind as the other Bakura took over.

"Bakura?" Yugi asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Bakura closed his eyes and faked his voice. "I just suddenly remembered something," he said in his host's voice. "I don't want to be late! No time to explain." He turned away from the others and started running away. "See you some other time!"

They watched Bakura take off, all of them totally shocked at the abruptness of his departure.

When they were out of sight, he slowed down and just walked home.

He walked into Ryou's apartment building and began to head upstairs. However, on one of the landings of the staircase, he suddenly felt their body stop moving. Ryou was fighting back. And surprisingly, he won.

Bakura's knees gave way and he sank to the floor.

Ryou didn't bother to try taking control again, and just confronted his yami directly._ "Yami!"_ he shouted. "Why did you do that?"

Bakura appeared in front of him in his mind. "I told you Ryou," he said. "I don't want to be anywhere near Yugi anymore. And you _clearly_ didn't listen to me."

The emptiness around the two Bakuras faded away and they found themselves in the lighter Bakura's soul room.

"I thought you meant that _you_ didn't want to be around him," Ryou explained. "You never said _I_ couldn't hang out with him."

"That was implied," his yami told him. "You know very well that me and the Pharaoh have a rivalry that goes far back into ancient history. I'm not having you hang out with his little aibou."

"That's not fair!" Ryou shouted. "First of all, just because you don't want to be near him doesn't mean I can't. Second of all, I thought you _wanted_ me to hang out with him so you could steal his Millenium Puzzle. Why the sudden cha-" He cut himself off before he said "Change of Heart".

"And I thought that you wanted me to let you leave. When you first learned that I was after him, you tried to transfer schools and run away from him. Now I'm letting you. What's with _your_ change of heart?"

Ryou frowned and averted his gaze from his yami's eyes. "I want you to let me do what I want. Just for once I'm my life I want you to stop doing this to me! I can hang out with Yugi if I feel like it! You have no right to change that!"

The yami grinned at his hikari. "You're right," he agreed. " I _don't_ have a right to. But that doesn't mean I don't have the power to do so anyway!"

"Why do you want to stay away from him anyway? Does it have to do with where we went two days ago?"

On the three yamis' trip back from that volcano place, the hikaris had regained control and caught up with each other. Ryou had been told by his evil side that he didn't want to hang around Yugi ever again. But he never knew why.

He hadn't told Ryou the reason.

"Fine! If you insist on knowing! The three of us agreed to not have anything to do with each other anymore. So no Pharaoh, no Malik, and therefore, no Yugi or Marik. That's final."

"But Marik is your friend!" Ryou protested sadly. "And Yugi is mine! We can't just stay away from them because we promised to keep away from their yamis."

"The three of us cause too much trouble when we're together. You should be thanking me for keeping your life drama-free. I might even reconsider my plot to take over the world if it means not getting myself killed because of them."

"Killed?" Ryou asked. "You almost died?! Why didn't you tell me?"

His yami scoffed and turned away. "Why do you care? It's of no concern to you."

"Wha- No concern? You may have been the one in control but it's _my_ body you're using. What happened to us?"

Bakura didn't want to tell Ryou, but it would be fun to see the poor boy squirm and be scared. "We almost fell in a giant pool of lava. And I almost lost the Millenium Ring, meaning you almost got out. And I almost broke my foot. And I fell off of a high ledge. Twice."

Bakura smiled at his hikari's facial expression at the story. It was priceless. He tried not to laugh. "Wh-whose fault was this?"

"The Pharaoh's. He dragged us in to it."

"He did? But why would he?"

"Because he's not as innocent as you think. Which is why he's not going to be around you anymore. Yugi duels practically every five minutes and we both know that the Pharaoh always takes over to help. So no more Muto!"

Bakura was still a bit shocked from his yami's brief explanation of what had occurred in the volcano and temple. But he shook it off and became angry again. "I don't care! You can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with! We go to the same school so it's not exactly possible for me to stay away from him."

"I didn't say you had to transfer or change classes or anything like that. Just don't get too comfortable around him or I may be forced to convince _him_ to avoid _you_."

"Was that a threat?" Ryou asked.

"Maybe?"

Ryou ran up to his yami and grabbed his arm. "You leave Yugi alone! Stop trying to hurt him! I really don't care what you do to his yami, but just leave him alone..."

"Ryou, haven't you learned by now that I do what I want and you can't do a damn thing to stop me? Now get off!" Bakura swung his arm forward rapidly, causing Ryou to be thrust back and fall hard on the floor.

"AH!" he cried as he fell. "No... you can't..."

"I can." Bakura ran out of his hikari's soul room and prepared to take control of the body. However, he stopped himself when he noticed something different about their soul hallway.

"When did this happen?" he wondered aloud.

Ryou, having recovered from his fall, got up and appeared in the doorway. "What? What happened? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! Have you ever seen an end to this hallway before?"

"What?" Ryou looked, and saw what his yami meant.

It seemed to actually lead somewhere, past a bend, instead of just continuing on into infinity. But where?

* * *

"Shiz! I'm taking a nap, so don't bother me!"

"Alright, Marik," came the reply from the living room.

In his room, Marik climbed into bed and tried to relax. It was easy because he was tired. He quickly fell asleep withing two minutes.

After a while, a form appeared before him. But instead of a dream as he would expect, he saw someone he didn't really want to talk to. At all.

Malik.

"Hello, hikari," he said.

Marik drew back a step. "What do you want from me you psychopath?"

"Just saying hi to my beloved weaker half," Malik replied sarcastically with a smirk. "Having a nice nap?"

"No. It was ruined when I saw your disgusting face."

Malik laughed. "It's your face too you know."

"No it's not!" Marik shouted defensively. "My face is much more better looking than yours ever will be!"

"Again, stupid hikari, the same face."

"Shut up and let me sleep."

"You _are_ sleeping."

"Then what do you want?!"

"Like I said..." Malik slowly walked around Marik. Marik turned around as he moved and made sure he didn't have his back to Malik at all. "I just wanted to say hi. And to make sure you weren't still hanging out with that thief, Bakura."

Marik gasped. Why would he say something like that? "What do you mean? You saying I shouldn't be hanging out with him?"

"Ah huh."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

The two stared at each other for a good minute in silence, the hikari expecting the yami to explain. But he didn't.

"So..." Malik continued. "Are you?"

"YES!" Marik said automatically. "Well, no... Well I am but I haven't seem him lately."

"Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"Why?" Marik asked again. "What did he do to you that I can't hang out with him anymore?"

"I thought you knew," Malik said with a smile. "He almost got us all killed. In the volcano two days ago. Remember?"

Oh _that_. Marik knew about that. Unlike Yugi and Bakura, he actually shared a mind with Malik. A soul room too. Although he didn't have automatic access to Malik's memory, he was able to look at it any time he wanted. So Marik knew everything that had happened to Malik. He also remembered the promise that he had made with the other two yamis about not having anything to do with each other ever again. "I know. You promised to stay away from each other. But that doesn't mean I can't hang out with Yugi and Ryou. Or Bakura. And it wasn't his fault! If you don't like him then why did you save him?! Huh?"

That last question actually caught Malik off guard. Now why did he save the spirit of the Millenium Ring when he fell? He actually never considered a reason why he had. But now that he was on the spot, he forced himself to consider possible reasons. "First of all, the Pharaoh would totally have murdered me if I had let him die. Secondly, you would have murdered me for killing your boyfriend. Thirdly, it would be an issue for me if the Millenium Ring would have been lost. You might not still be interested in it but I am."

"I don't believe you! Except for that first one. But other than that, bull crap! And Bakura is _not_ my boyfriend! Everyone knows that _you're_ the one that likes him! Stop trying to accuse me of crushing on him!"

"No."

"I hate you."

"I know."

"I'm not staying away from them just because you don't like them. It's my body, bitch."

"And what about when I randomly decide that I want to come out for a day or two? What are you going to say to your fellow hikaris when you're visiting them in the hospital for-"

"SHUT UP MALIK!" Marik screamed. "Stop threatening my friends! One of these days I'm going to have Bakura send you to the Shadow Realm again!"

"That can't happen if you never see him again. And the Pharaoh already tried to send me there once. And here I still am."

"Then they'll do it again!"

"Fat chance of that happening. We all agreed to have nothing to do with each other, and this is a promise I have decided to actually keep. No more Bakura, no more Pharaoh, so no more Yugi or Ryou."

"Won't you miss your little pet?"

Malik laughed at the idea, but Marik still saw the _slightest_ tint of red on his face. "Make up your mind already about who you-"

Malik suddenly stopped talking. Marik tensed, wondering what he was up to. Malik turned away and started looking around. "What?" Marik asked him. "What is it?"

No longer using a sarcastic or mocking tone, Malik became all serious and asked his hikari, "Do you feel something off about this place?"

"What place?" Marik asked back. He looked around and was slightly surprised to see that they had been transported into their soul room. It was split right down the middle, one half Marik's and one half Malik's. They were standing right on the divider between the two halves. Malik was still looking around. He suddenly snapped his attention to the door.

He walked around Marik and left.

"HEY! Where are you going?" Marik followed.

The two Mariks looked around and noticed that their soul hallway seemed to have been extended in either direction. And they turned in another direction at the end.

And to their surprise, it sounded like someone was approaching from around both corners.

* * *

**This is not abridged AT _ALL_.**

**Should I capitalize the words "soul room" and "soul hallway"? I don't know. And I feel like I use those words too much lately...**

**The adventure scene in the first part (of the prologue) was lacking, I know. I only thought of the concept and idea of the plot, not the actual storyline itself or how it would play out. So if you want to suggest something to me on how to improve it, by all means please do.**

**Next chapter: PART 1: Chapter 2- The End of the Hallway  
~In which the yamis and hikaris investigate what has happened to their soul hallway.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	2. P1, C2: The End of the Hallway

**Here's the next chapter. It will be a relatively short one. **

**Previously on Triangular Hallway *cue "previously on yugioh" sounds*:  
**_"Well..." Yami also left his soul room and looked around. He looked to either side of their soul hallway and gasped at what he saw. "What's this?"_  
_"What? What is it?" Yugi exited his room and also looked. He, too, gasped at the sight._  
_Before, the hallway had no end. There was simply nothing there. Now, the hallway actually ended, and seemed to turn in another direction and lead somewhere else. But where?_  
_._  
_"When did this happen?" he wondered aloud._  
_Ryou, got up and appeared in the doorway. "What? What happened? What did you do?"_  
_"I didn't do anything! Have you ever seen an end to this hallway before?"_  
_"What?" Ryou looked, and saw what his yami meant._  
_It seemed to actually lead somewhere, past a bend, instead of just continuing on into infinity. But where?  
._  
_"HEY! Where are you going?" Marik followed._  
_The two Mariks looked around and noticed that their soul hallway seemed to have been extended in either direction. And they turned in another direction at the end._  
_And to their surprise, it sounded like someone was approaching from around both corners.  
_***dramatic outro noise***

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik*' (even though I never actually use 'Malik' for either of them),. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura*' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 2. **

**Okay here we go...**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 2  
**The End of the Hallway

* * *

"Yugi..."

"Well, you're the ancient spirit that inhabits MY body, so I assume that you know more about this kind of stuff than I do. What's going on  
here?"

Yami turned around and looked at Yugi, who was facing the opposite side of the hallway. The "wall" that Yugi's soul room was behind was to Yami's left; the wall that his was behind on his right. Yugi was examining the bend from a few feet away.

"It is true that I know a little more than you do about this kind of thing, but I don't know what is going on or why it's happening. I do know that a soul room is a virtual representation of someone's mind and soul, and that the hallway is the extent of existence. So since a person's mind is technically limitless, one would think that the hallway goes on forever, or loops in some cases. So it is puzzling, no pun intended, to me that ours seems to lead somewhere. Either something happened to our state of mind that caused it to loop visibly or our minds are connected to something else."

"Or some_one_." Yugi turned around and gave Yami a worried look. "Are you _sure_ the evil Bakura isn't here?"

"I'm sure."

"Hm..." Yugi turned back to the bend in the hallway. It appeared to bend somewhere behind the wall that Yami's soul room was attached to. Both ends of the hallway did.

For some reason, Yugi determined that this was a vital piece of information.

"Well I want to see what's going on. Let's go!" Yugi ran over to where Yami was, and passed him.

Yami turned around and watched him run towards the corner. "Yugi, what are you doing? Where are you going?"

Yugi stopped running and turned around. He back tracked at took Yami's hand, then kept going. "We're going to see where this hallway leads to, and then find out why it leads there."

"But wait-"

"Nope." Yugi pulled Yami across what felt like a thin barrier and ran around the bend.

* * *

"Yami!"

"What the hell do you want, Ryou?!"

"What did you do now?"

Bakura gave Ryou as innocent a face as was possible for him. "What do you mean by that? Why do you assume that this my fault."

"Because you're the one that always invades into other people's minds and sticks your evil, thieving, Egyptian soul into everyone's business!"

Bakura resisted the urge to slam Ryou into the wall and turned back to the bend in the hallway. In both directions, the hallway bent somewhere behind his soul room.

He purposefully walked right up to the corner and put a hand out into the empty space. His hand was met with a slight resistance, as if passing though a barrier, but was otherwise unhindered.

_We must had somehow linked consciousness with another being. I do hope it isn't someone I know or knew._ Having been in the Millenium Ring for 5000 years and having switched hosts hundreds of times, he knew a lot about soul rooms and hallways and yami/hikari relationships. But he had never run into a situation where the hallways of two conciousness were directly and visibly linked, even if two people had a mental bond. So why now?

Only one way to find out.

He turned around, then walked up to his hikari and grabbed his hand. "Let's go," he said.

Bakura yelped when his yami grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the end of the hallway to "Huh? Where are we going? And why am I going too?"

"We're going to investigate the other hallway," Yami Bakura replied. "And you might be involved in why this happened. So I'm keeping you with me."

Bakura tried to drag his feet so he wouldn't have to go. "But it's not my fault! I wanna get back to my body!"

The evil Bakura stopped walking abruptly and turned around, giving Bakura a hard stare. "Does it look like I give a crap?"

"No," he replied meekly.

"Exactly. Come on." He continued walking and dragging Bakura along.

Within seconds, they had reached the corner and rounded it, passing through to the other side.

* * *

Marik and Malik each stared down a different end of the hallway. They were now certain that someone was coming from around each corner.

Malik pushed Marik back inside their soul room and stood in front of the doorway. "Hey," Marik cried.

"Shut up," Malik replied harshly.

Malik continued staring to the right, Marik to the left.

A second later, each of them saw two people come from the end of the hallway they were looking at.

From Marik's side came Ryou and Bakura.  
From Malik's side came Yugi and the Pharaoh.

* * *

The three pairs all froze in place when they noticed the other four people.

Shit just got real.

* * *

***Review if you want me to change it to something else, but not 'Melvin' or 'Florence'. This is not abridged AT _ALL_.**

**Should I capitalize the words "soul room" and "soul hallway"? I don't know. And I feel like I use those words too much lately...**

**Thanks to my first two reviewers. Reviews are always appreciated and looked at!**

**MAKING A COVER FOR THIS STORY! It should make it easier for you to visualize how the hallways are layed out. It's my first attempt at drawing Yugi, Marik, and Ryou. It should look so cool!**

**Next chapter:  
PART 1: Chapter 3- Triangular Hallway  
~In which the six of them try to figure out what happened.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	3. P1, C3: Triangular Hallway

**OMG I PUT UP THE COVER ISNT IT AWESOME! It's my first ever attempt at drawing Yugi, Marik, and Ryou. It should help you see how the main setting for this story looks. OMG I HOPE IT LOOKS GOOD FOR MY FIRST TRY! (I hope it makes up for anything this chapter lacks)**

**I HOPE THAT EVERYONE READING THIS HAS READ THE PROLOGUE FIRST! "The Volcanic Escape". IF NOT GO BACK AND READ IT!**

**Previously on Triangular Hallway *cue "previously on yugioh" sounds*:  
**_Yami turned around and watched him run towards the corner. "Yugi, what are you doing? Where are you going?"_  
_Yugi stopped running and turned around. He back tracked at took Yami's hand, then kept going. "We're going to see where this hallway leads to, and then find out why it leads there."_  
_"But wait-"_  
_"Nope." Yugi pulled Yami across what felt like a thin barrier and ran around the bend._  
_.  
Bakura yelped when his yami grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the end of the hallway to "Huh? Where are we going? And why am I going too?"_  
_"We're going to investigate the other hallway," Yami Bakura replied. "And you might be involved in why this happened. So I'm keeping you with me."_  
_Within seconds, they had reached the corner and rounded it, passing through to the other side._  
_._  
_Marik and Malik each stared down a different end of the hallway. They were now certain that someone was coming from around each corner._  
_A second later, each of them saw two people come from the end of the hallway they were looking at._  
_From Marik's side came Ryou and Bakura. _  
_From Malik's side came Yugi and the Pharaoh.  
_***dramatic outro noise***

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik*' (even though I never actually use 'Malik' for either of them). Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura*' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 3. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 3  
**Triangular Hallway

* * *

The six of them stared at each other in silence, trying to figure out what was going on.

Finally, Malik broke the silence. "What are you four doing here?"

The silence now broken, the mood became a lot less tense.

"I could ask you the same thing," Bakura said.

"No you can't!" Marik exclaimed. "This is _my_ mind!"

"_Our_."

"No it's not! You shouldn't be here!"

"Well I am."

While they argued for a fer more seconds, Yugi looked behind the evil Bakura, who was standing in front of his hikari and still holding his arm. "Hi, Bakura."

"Hi Yugi!" he said with an enthusiastic wave. Then he frowned and pointed at his yami. "help please" he mouthed.

Yugi mouthed back "how".

"I don't know."

"Pharaoh, please send him to the Shadow Realm again..."

Yami looked at Marik in surprise. "I can't just do that. And I"m not supposed to be talking to him anyway."

"Yes," Yami Bakura agreed. "We're not supposed to be near each other. We might accidentally destroy the world together."

"Don't overexaderate, Bakura."

"Oh, so not only was your father a murderer, but you are a promise-breaker and a Mind Crusher! You just keep getting worse and worse, don't you, Pharaoh?"

"Leave him alone, yami."

"Did I say you could talk?" Bakura replied harshly.

Ryou shrunk back and his frown deepened.

"Would someone care to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Malik asked impatiently.

"I know what's going on here," Bakura announced. "Obviously our minds have been linked. So our hallways have been linked as well. We now seem to have a triangular hallway."

Everyone gasped and shouted at the same time. "WHAT?!"

* * *

**I've decided to make this fic more like an actual YGO episode, so I'm putting actual commercial breaks, just like the show. This is the first one. The story isn't abridged, but the commercials might be. Just a heads up there. Let me know if this is too annoying, and I'll remove and discontinue them.**

**This commercial is a commercial for the commercials, so you know that there will be commercials. Notice how I am commercializing the word "commercial", so this is one of those times where someone overuses a word and its variations in order to be funny. Is it working? No?**

**Okay then back to the story.**

* * *

Yami stepped out from behind Yugi and turned to Yami Bakura. "So, our minds have been linked," he restated. "Just as I thought. "So, since you also seem to know a bit about this, then by all means tell us how this happened."

"Uh... Well. The thing is that I know _what_ happened, but not _how_ it happened." He looked around at everyone, even his own hikari. "However, I made a small observation that may help us out. However... Pharaoh, you might want to sit tight for this request I have."

Yami looked warily at Bakura. "I guess I will allow whatever it is. As long as it's safe, legal, non-invasive, and accepted by everyone here."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he replied, waving his hand at each requirement. "All I need to do is go into your hallway. Briefly."

"No!" Yugi shouted. "I don't trust you there-"

Yami put a hand in front of Yugi, trying to relax him. "Yugi, if it helps us, then I will allow it." He lowered his voice and continued. "I will make sure he doesn't do anything to you."

"Anything to me? I'm worried about him looking through..."

Bakura interrupted and quickly said, "He's saying that he'll make sure that I won't go into your soul room and try to mess with your soul or mind by destroying or messing with something."

"Bakura!" Yami shouted. "Why do you think I was whispering?"

"What?"

Yami flicked his eyes to Malik twice, then once to Yugi and the other Bakura. Bakura got the message.

"Don't worry about me, Pharaoh," Malik said, finally speaking up. "I already know about that. I won't hurt your hikaris. I already told you I have no interest in harming them. You can even leave them here with me if you want."

Yami gasped at the realization that he would be leaving Yugi, Marik, and Ryou Bakura alone with Malik. "That's right... I forgot..." All three of them couldn't keep Malik back even if they tried their hardest. They weren't weak; he was just strong. And they were in his hallway. But then again, Marik was there. And he was the other half of Malik. They were the same person, just two different minds rather than two different souls. So everything should be okay. Right?

Marik noticed the Pharaoh's uneasy expression. He caught his eye and gave him a wink and thumbs up.

Yami sighed, somehow reassured that everything was going to be alright. "Fine then. Bakura, let's go."

Both Bakuras took a step forward to follow. The yami noticed, and held his hikari back. "He meant me. Obviously."

He walked next to Yami. "You should really treat him better."

"Shut up."

They walked into the next hallway.

"You know," Malik said, "it hurts me that you people don't trust me. Those two do."

"Because they can kill you as easily as you could kill them," Marik explained.

"Correction. I could kill both of you more easily than you could kill me." Bakura and the Pharaoh were back. Bakura had only needed a second. "I was looking at the hallway layout."

"Why?" Ryou asked. As he was talking, his yami went over to Malik to ask him a question

Yugi gasped and remembered. "Wait... I remember that it bent behind Yami's soul room. And so does this one..."

"And so does mine!" Bakura suddenly cried. "So... Does that mean that...?"

Yami Bakura nodded. "Yes. It's not a coincidence that the hallways bend behind the darker half's room. This certainly proves my theory." He moved in front of Bakura again, who hadn't moved the whole time except for that one step.

"So, Touzoku," Malik said, "What _is_ your brilliant theory?"

"If you'd let me finish, Malik." He turned around and faced everyone else. "I also have noticed that this link seems to be two days old. So my theory is this: the reason why the hallways are linked has to do with me, the Pharaoh, and Malik. Since this happened two days ago, then it must have something to do with whatever happened that day in the volcano/temple system. Probably the volcano."

The Pharaoh and Malik both tried to remember what could have possibly happened that would have caused something like this. Nothing came to mind.

"Wait a minute..." Yugi said. "I think I may have a theory as well."

"Well?" Malik asked expectantly. "Out with it!"

"Um..." Yugi twiddled his thumbs shyly. "It's... not really all that sound. It's just something I noticed that happened on the plane. With the Millenium Puzzle."

"Something happened to the Puzzle?" Ryou asked. "I think the same thing may have happened to the Millenium Ring. I also noticed that on the plane."

"Speaking of which..." Bakura turned to his hikari. "What _did_ happen on the plane? You never told me."

"Do I ever tell you anything?"

"No."

"Why would I?!"

"Yugi, you never really told me either."

"Hey, why don't we tell them now?" suggested Marik.

Yugi and Bakura both nodded. They really wanted to know what went on in the volcano-temple place, but right now everyone's immediate concern was sharing what they observed on the plane.

* * *

***Review if you want me to change it to something else, but not 'Melvin' or 'Florence'. This is not abridged AT _ALL_.**

**I'm sorry if part one isn't very exciting. But please bear with me because part two is much more interesting and eventful. That's where the DRAMA happens tee hee hee!**

**Should I capitalize the words "soul room" and "soul hallway"? I don't know. And I feel like I use those words too much lately...**

**Next chapter:  
PART 1: Chapter 4- Flashback: On The Plane  
~A flashback chapter. Yugi, Marik, and Ryou flashback to when they were on the plane.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	4. P1, C4: Flashback: On The Plane

**SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT! But I wrote more stuff so I should update faster than I have been. I hope...**

**Previously on Triangular Hallway *cue "previously on yugioh" sounds*:  
**_"I know what's going on here," Bakura announced. "Obviously our minds have been linked. So our hallways have been linked as well. We now seem to have a triangular hallway."_  
_Everyone gasped and shouted at the same time. "WHAT?!"_

_"So, Touzoku," Malik said, "What is your brilliant theory?"_  
_"If you'd let me finish, Malik." He turned around and faced everyone else. "I also have noticed that this link seems to be two days old. So my theory is this: the reason why the hallways are linked has to do with me, the Pharaoh, and Malik. Since this happened two days ago, then it must have something to do with whatever happened that day in the volcano/temple system. Probably the volcano."_

_"Wait a minute..." Yugi said. "I think I may have a theory as well."_  
_"Well?" Malik asked expectantly. "Out with it!"_  
_"Um..." Yugi twiddled his thumbs shyly. "It's... not really all that sound. It's just something I noticed that happened on the plane. With the Millenium Puzzle."_  
_"Something happened to the Puzzle?" Ryou asked. "I think the same thing may have happened to the Millenium Ring. I also noticed that on the plane."_  
_"Speaking of which..." Bakura turned to his hikari. "What did happen on the plane? You never told me."_

_"Yugi, you never really told me either."_  
_"Hey, why don't we tell them now?" suggested Marik._  
_Yugi and Bakura both nodded. They really wanted to know what went on in the volcano-temple place, but right now everyone's immediate concern was sharing what they observed on the plane._  
***dramatic outro noise***

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik*'. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura*' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**BTW thanks to Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter for asking for a note about the brackets! The words in [ ] are Yugi, Marik, and Ryou narrating during the flashback. It should be easy enough to tell who is talking in each.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 4. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 4  
**Flashback: On The Plane

* * *

_~Somewhere, on a plane...~_

["I woke up and the first thing I saw was a seat in front of me. I looked down and the second thing I saw was my Puzzle. Then I noticed that my arm and my neck and chin hurt. And my hand was red."]

The teen in the middle looked to his left and his right. To his left was his friend, Marik. To his right was his friend Bakura. Both were still sleeping.

Yugi then looked out the window to his right. All he saw were trees and sky. Then he realized where they were. On an airplane. But where were they going?

["Obviously the first thing I did was wake them up..."]

Yugi reached a hand to those on either side of him and shook their shoulders. "Guys... Wake up. I think..."

["Ryou woke up first..."]

Bakura slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The first thing he registered was Yugi's face. "Yugi..." he said sleepily. "Where are we? And..."

["And I noticed that once again, I had been injured while unconscious. My arm hurt a bit, my hands were a bit red, and my face..."]

He reached a hand up to his cheek and felt the area below his right eye. "Yugi... Why is there a scratch on my face? What happened? Why are we here?"

"Um... I don't know."

["I'm sorry. I lied to you. I actually _did_ know a bit of the situation. Yami told me that we were going somewhere and a few other minor details, but that was it."]

["Then I noticed Marik sitting next to him."]

Marik started stirring and slowly opened his eyes. He looked around for a moment or two before waking up completely and sitting up. He turned to the right and noticed his two friends sitting there.

["My head hurt a lot for some reason. And my hands looked a bit scratched up and my arm hurt. You two also looked like a mess."]

"Wh- Yugi? Ryou? Are you two okay? Where are we?"

"Oh a private plane I think," Yugi responded. "I think we're going back home."

"Home?! Where are we leaving from?! Where did we go? I don't remember a thin..." He trailed off as he felt a small pain in his head. "My head hurts... Wh-"

["And I knew why..."]

"Yugi... Do you have any idea how we got here?" Bakura asked. "I don't even remember leaving the house this morning, as far as I recall."

"Ryou... I think it's the next day already," Yugi told him.

He looked shocked for a moment. "What?!" The expression faded.

["I'm no stranger to memory lapses, if you know what I mean..."]

"I think we all went on some crazy adventure to do something in some temple place. I don't know how I know that."

"Oh not the ancient history bull crap again!" Marik exclaimed. "Haven't we had enough of those?"

"Apparently not," Bakura replied.

"So right now, I believe we are heading home."

"That's good. But I wonder what happened that would give me a scratch on my face..."

["I have to be honest... I saw that Marik was holding the Millenium Rod and I got a little bit suspicious."]

["I also noticed that I was holding it... But I didn't suspect that I had hurt anyone with it. Thanks for trusting me..."]

["Well forgive me for being wary of the physical pain that those items can inflict."]

["You have been forgiven."]

["Anyway... I had also noticed that the two of them had their Millenium Items with them. Which made me wonder..."]

"I wish I could remember what happened. I'm jealous of you Yugi. You have the good spirit in your Item..."

With that statement, Bakura had pretty much stated what was on everyone's mind: they had been out of the action; their darker halves hadn't.

"Wait a minute..." Marik said. "Why are _we_ here?"

"What do you mean?" Yugi and Bakura asked at the same time.

"Well... Whatever happened here... This kind of stuff usually happens to Yugi. Not us. Why are me and Ryou here?"

"Well... I think he's right," Yugi said. "The three of us don't remember anything of what happened yet here we are. So it's obvious who _really_ went through whatever just happened."

They all responded at the same time.

"The Pharaoh."  
"Malik."  
"Bakura."

[So we all knew that the three of you were responsible. But that meant more to Marik and Ryou than it did to me."]

Marik thought about his yami. Again, he had taken over and done something crazy. And now his head hurt and something had probably gone wrong. At least the other two were still alive. That's a good sign.

Bakura also thought of his yami. It had happened again. But what had happened? And why was he injured yet again? What exactly was he doing?

Yugi, however, was thinking more about the others than himself. He wondered how and why _his_ yami had trusted Malik and Yami Bakura enough to do something like this with  
them. Was it because he needed help? Or because they were involved? He knew one thing: the other two yamis had willingly joined him, and they hadn't simply run into each other and stuck with him. But again...

"What happened there?" all three said at the same time.

"Oh finally!"

The three looked toward the sound of the voice who had just spoken. Moments later, they saw a young woman in a flight attendant's uniform walk next to them. She looked back and forth between a piece of paper in her hand and the three teens in the row. Finally, her head stopped moving and she asked, "Yugi Muto, Marik Ishtar, and Ryou Bakura?"

"Yes?" they responded in unison.

"Oh good." She looked at Yugi. "Someone you know told me to check on you three when you woke up. He needed to tell me what you looked like so I wouldn't get confused." She winked. "If you know what I mean."

["I had absolutely no idea what she meant."]

["Neither did I."]

["I did. My yami gave her a picture of what the three of us looked like so she wouldn't confuse us for our yamis."]

["Oh."]

["Oh."]

"You three need anything?" she asked Yugi. "Something for your head?" she asked Marik. "Something for your face?" she asked Bakura.

The three shook their heads.

"Wait!" Yugi said. "Where did we come from and how far is it from home?"

She smiled weakly and shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know."

["I could tell she was lying though."]

"If you need anything later, just call for me. My name is Kirani." She turned away with a smile and left.

["This is the important part. Pay attention."]

The three decided to just sit there quietly for a few moments. With nothing better to do, they decided to examine their Millenium Items.

The first thing Marik did was remove the bottom of the Millenium Rod and examine the blade of it. Yugi and Bakura held their breaths.

There was nothing on it. It was totally clean and dry.

They breathed and sighed in relief.

Marik sheathed it again.

Then they turned to their own items.

Bakura felt the prongs of the Millenium Ring as well, looking for the same thing Marik had. There was nothing there. However, three of them were rough at the tips. And the ring itself was chipped a bit. But he figured that it must have hit something. Maybe the same thing that scratched his face?

["That didn't really seem odd to me at the time. It still doesn't."]

Yugi had that random thought of taking the puzzle apart and putting it back together again. But obviously he didn't do that. He looked in the cracks between the pieces. He noticed several little specks of gold where the cracks were melded together.

["I noticed the same things and scratches I noticed later. There were four of them."]

Then he removed the puzzle from around his neck. When he did, he remembered the pain in his neck/chin area. He felt there and discovered two or three deep grooves that felt like they were made by the Puzzle's chain. But why? He'd never had that problem before.

["That was a bit odd. The chain had never left marks that deep before. They made little marks, but it was light enough not to be _that _deep. And in the front too? It made me wonder..."]

As for Marik, there wasn't much to look at. He just stared at the eye symbol on the top of the Rod and wondered more about what might have happened. Then he noticed two tiny, almost unnoticeable, dents on the inside of the Rod's wings.

["I just figured it was part of the design. I don't know the Rod the way Yugi and Ryou know their items."]

["So all of us noticed something odd about the surfaces of the Millenium Items we had. That couldn't have been a coincidence. Could it?"]

["Yes... But what does that have to do with anything? Like I said, it could have just been something they hit or scraped against."]

["Two on mine, three on Ryou's, four on Yugi's... What does that mean?"]

* * *

**This commercial break was brought to you by Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series. About half as popular as Team Four Star. Hmph.**

**Have you been injured in an accident during a card game that wasn't your fault?  
*_In a forest, Bandit Keith walks away, leaving behind Bonz and Sid lying on the ground in a daze*_  
Suffered damages at the hands of your opponent?  
*_In a dark, cloudy place, Yugi, Tea, Joey and Tristan fall dazed in front of Yami Bakura*_  
Do you like to blame other people for your clumsiness?  
*_Bakura is seen in a wild blaze of flames*_  
If so, give us a call at 1-800-DUELINSURANCE,  
*_In a street alley, a boy is sprayed with silly-string __from Weevil's bug gun*_  
and we'll fix the problem by throwing lots of money around.  
*_In a hospital, Tristan, Téa and a nurse carry Grampa in a mobile hospital bed*_  
Duel Insurance, because nothing heals pain quite like money.**

**Now back to your regularly scheduled fanfic!**

* * *

The six stood there, looking at each other. Actually, sat and stood. The three yamis had somehow ended up sitting on the floor.

"So..." Yami finally said. "It seems that those marks and dents on the Millenium Items is the key. Which means that this is all Bakura's fault."

"Me?! But I didn't do anything! I have no-"

"Shut up he was talking to me. Now what did I do?"

"You may have linked us accidentally through our Millenium Items. Especially you and me. Somehow. And you were the only one of us who held all three at once. How do I know you didn't do something to them? And you might have made them scrape against each other as well. And you are the least trustworthy out"

Bakura held up a hand and interrupted. "If you recall, Malik also held the items all at once when I threw them at him."

"You did what?!" Yugi and Ryou shouted at the same time.

"Wait!" Marik interrupted. "One thing I want to know. The injuries we all had. How did we get those?"

Everyone looked at Marik, wondering what to say. Then the Pharaoh answered. The answer to all of these questions lie in the retelling of the last part of the adventure. I think it's our turn to talk." He looked at Malik and Bakura. All three of them nodded.

"So since this is apparently me fault," Bakura started, "I will start telling the story first. I believe it would be best to start at the part where I said that it was all Malik's fault."

"Which one?" Malik asked sarcastically.

"The last time."

* * *

***Review if you want me to change it to something else, but not 'Melvin' or 'Florence'. This is not abridged AT _ALL_.**

**I'm sorry if part one isn't very exciting. But please bear with me because part two is much more interesting and eventful. That's where the DRAMA happens tee hee hee!**

**Next chapter:  
PART 1: Chapter 5- Flashback: The Volcanic Escape  
****~A flashback chapter. Yami, Bakura, and Malik describe what happened when they were in the volcano.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	5. P1, C5: Flashback: The Volcanic Escape

**No "previously" section because I don't feel like it. This chapter will be short. **

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik*'. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura*' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**BTW thanks to Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter for asking for a note about the brackets! And yes, its only a coincidence. The name was totally random. I have a habit of creating OC and extra character names that have or begin with K.  
Anyway... the words in [ ] are Yami, Malik, and Bakura narrating during the flashback. It should be easy enough to tell who is talking in each.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 5. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 5  
**Flashback: The Volcanic Escape

* * *

**If you haven't already, or you did and just want a recap, go read the prologue. This commercial break will be running while you are gone and should be over when you get back.**

**This commercial break was brought to you by Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series. About half as popular as Team Four Star. Hmph.**

**Your own personal deck - ten dollars.  
A brand spanking new Duel Disk system - thirty dollars.  
Bribing the school bully so he won't beat you up for playing card games - fifty dollars.  
Activating Swords of Revealing Light so your opponent is unable to attack your Life Points directly, leaving him wide open for a frontal assault on all his monsters - priceless.  
There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's KaibaCorp.**

**Now back to your regularly scheduled fanfic!**

* * *

As the three yamis told their hikaris about what had happened, they made sure to note when where and what injuries happened.

The transition from the vine to the ledge...

["The scratch under your eye happened when I hit my face against the wall. But obviously that was no big deal, right?"]

["Was it bleeding?"]

["What do you think?"]

[He remembered that there had been some dried substance on his face, but he had assumed that he had been crying or something. But apparently that substance was dried and faded blood that his yami hadn't bothered to clean up.]

The fall from the high platform...

["The ledge broke and we all fell. I remember that I fell face down on the Millenium Puzzle. I hope the injury had healed before you were on the plane."]

["It did."]

["As for me, all that happened was I scraped my hands a bit."]

["I was more fortunate. I landed first on the back of my head."]

["Fluffy kitty had soft fluffy landing?"]

["Shut up Marik."]

The fall from the ledge...

[Gasp]  
[Gasp]  
[Gasp]

["Yes. I fell. Malik caught me with the Millenium Rod."]

["I also fell trying to help Malik bring him up. Caught me by the chain of the Puzzle. Which is what happened to your neck."]

["So the weight explains why everyone's arms hurt. Including my own."]

The three yamis continued and went on to the part where Bakura had thought of a solution. They omitted the parts of Malik's comments about Bakura and Yami being a couple.

Exiting the cave...

["The first thing I did was punch the Pharaoh in the face."]

["YOU DID WHAT?!"]

["...Why would you do that?"]

["Calm down Yugi... It's fine. I'm fine. And you're fine as well."]

["Shut up, Ryou."]

The yamis finished up with the promise they had made to each other.

* * *

But they weren't done talking.

The ride home...

"The three of us were tired and I knew that you three would take control again and wake up during the ride. I told Kirani to make sure you were alright when you woke up. I made sure that she knew you would look slightly different from us. And you three know the rest."

They had omitted the information about exactly where they had left from and how they got the private plane home. But that was alright for now. At least the story had been told.

* * *

**I'm sorry if part one isn't very exciting. But please bear with me because part two is much more interesting and eventful. That's where the DRAMA happens tee hee hee!**

**I kn****ow that this chapter probably was and the next two chapters will probably be lacking in terms of interestingness. BUT I PROMISE THAT PART 2 WILL BE BETTER~!**

**Next chapter:  
PART 1: Chapter 6- Putting It All Together  
****~A short chapter. Someone finally figures out how this all happened.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	6. P1, C6: Putting It All Together

**No "previously" section because I still don't feel like it. This chapter will be short as well.**

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik*'. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura*' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 6. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 6  
**Putting It All Together

* * *

"So how does this all relate to our minds being linked?" Yugi asked.

Everyone thought. No one had an answer.

Ryou thought of one. "Wait a moment..." he said.

"What?" everyone asked at the same time.

Ryou blushed from the sudden attention. "W-well... The answer to the mystery lies in the details that match up."

"Go ahead and solve the mystery, Professor Layton."

Ryou smiled at his yami. "I love that game. Of course." he walked to the center of the hallway. As he talked, he turned around and around so he could look at everyone. "The three details that match up are as follows." He counted off each detail on his fingers. "One, all of our arms hurt afterwards. Two, our hands were red on our palms and fingertips, and probably tingled a bit when touched. And three our Millenium Items all have little scratches and whatnot on them. The detail that is the same regardless was the place we were at."

"What?" Bakura asked impatiently. "The volcano? The plane? What?"

"Um... Yes I was getting to that. Marik's item had two groves in it. Yugi's item had three random specks. Mine had four. Rod to Ring is one. Rod to Puzzle is one. That leaves two on the Puzzle and three on the Ring."

"I..." Yami started. "Really don't see where you are going with this."

Ryou smiled. "You and Yugi aren't the only ones who are good at puzzles."

He walked over to Yugi and pointed to his Puzzle. "May I?" he asked.

Yugi was sure that Ryou knew what he was doing and trusted him. So he took off the chain and handed the item over.

"Thank you."

Next he walked over to Marik. "Marik?"

Marik also trusted him. He nodded and handed over his Rod.

"Thank you."

Ryou walked back to the center of the hallway and knelt down on the floor. He took off the Ring he wore. Then he started fiddling with the three items. Yami, Yugi, Marik, and Malik leaned forward trying to see what he was doing. Bakura didn't give a damn and just waited for his hikari to get to the point.

"Speaking of point," Ryou said. "That is precisely part of it!"

Bakura flinched at the fact that Ryou had read his mind. But that was nothing new, due to their bond.

"Done!" he finally announced.

Everyone perked up.

Ryou stood up and held the Rod by its handle. The Ring and Puzzle hung from the wings. Three of the points of the Ring were wedged into the cracks of the Puzzle, one of them in the eye symbol. "Yami... Anything look familiar?"

Yami Bakura examined the arrangement. It did! "That looks exactly like the way I put them together when I threw them... But how...?"

"If you were to take a closer look... You'd notice that I matched up the scratches and marks between them. Here is my theory. In the volcano, when everyone fell, the heat of the lava must have caused the gold in the items to melt slightly at the spots they touched another item. And since you three," he pointed at the three yamis in the room, "and your spirits are more or less connected to the items, when they linked, your minds linked." He held up his arms, indicating the hallway around them. "And here we are."

* * *

A long silence followed. During this silence, Ryou took apart the Millenium Items and returned them to their respective owners.

"So..." Marik said, breaking the silence. "I understand _how_ this happened. But why? Just because the items linked doesn't mean our minds have to be linked as well. Besides, me and Malik aren't connected to the Millenium Rod the way everyone else here is linked to their items. Explain that."

"Actually... Bakura interjected. "This is the kind of stuff I don't let Ryou learn about. Gives him too much insight and I like him ignorant. This is where his realm of knowledge ends. And where mine begins." He stepped to the center of the room, grabbed his hikari's hand, and dragged him back to where they originally stood before. Then he began to speak.

"You would not have been able to use the Millenium Rod," he said to Malik and Marik, "had it not accepted you. So in a way you ARE linked to it. It allows you to use it's powers. So you are just as linked to it, Marik, as Ryou is to the Millenium Ring. So, since the three hikaris here are accepted by and linked to their Millenium items, and me and the Pharaoh over there are literally part of our items, the three of our minds were linked slightly when the items um... 'melted' together. And..." he sighed. "Ugh... Yes, Pharaoh. In a way this is all my fault because I used the connection between the two of us and our items to carry us up to that ledge which may have had a hand in linking us."

Another silence followed. But thankfully this one was short. "Thank you, Bakura," Yami said. "That made a lot of sense. The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

* * *

**I'm sorry if part one isn't very exciting. But please bear with me because it's almost over and because part two is much more interesting and eventful. That's where the DRAMA happens tee hee hee!**

**I kn****ow that this chapter probably was and the next chapter will probably be lacking in terms of interestingness. BUT I PROMISE THAT PART 2 WILL BE BETTER~!**

**Next chapter:  
PART 1: Chapter 7- What To Do Now...  
****~Everyone figures out how they are going to deal with the situation.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	7. P1, C7: What To Do Now

**********OMG SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! This story is actually hard to get ideas for! But I have A LOT of good ideas for part 2! So hang in there!**

**********Previously on Triangular Hallway *cue "previously on yugioh" sounds*:  
**"I know what's going on here," Bakura announced. "Obviously our minds have been linked. So our hallways have been linked as well. We now seem to have a triangular hallway."

"In the volcano, when everyone fell, the heat of the lava must have caused the gold in the items to melt slightly at the spots they touched another item. And since you three," he pointed at the three yamis in the room, "and your spirits are more or less connected to the items, when they linked, your minds linked." He held up his arms, indicating the hallway around them. "And here we are."

"Thank you, Bakura," Yami said. "That made a lot of sense. The question is, what are we going to do about it?"  
***************dramatic outro noise***

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik'. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 7. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 7  
**What To Do Now...

* * *

"Thank you, Bakura," Yami said. "That made a lot of sense. The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

"Do you mean to reverse it or live with it?" Yugi asked. "Because, to be honest, I want nothing to do with Malik."

"Hey!" Bakura shouted, pretending to be hurt. "What? You don't hate me as well. How could you forget about me?"

"I hate you, too!" Yugi yelled back. "But at least I can get rid of you by getting rid of the Millenium Ring."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try to tear it from around my neck. Go ahead and try right now!"

"Both of you calm down!" Yami and Ryou shouted at the same time.

Yugi took a deep breath. "You're right. Sorry."

"Anyway..." Yami continued. "We should all consider figuring out how to live with _and_ reverse it. Me, Malik, and Yami Bakura will deal with the latter. Yugi, Marik, and Ryou, you deal with the former."

"Wha?" Ryou asked.

"Why us?" Marik asked.

"Because I think we can all agree that we all trust the three of you. The opposite is not true." Everyone moved. Now there were two lines, the yamis and the hikaris, facing each other. "But everyone here trusts you three so you can deal with the effects of this and figure out how to deal with it. And in the end, it's your mind and body. You are in charge of it. The three of us are in a sense, only visitors."

"Yeah not unless I change that myself."

Bakura's forehead was facepalmed by Yami's palm.

"Ow what the fuck?"

"Shut up. So, can we trust you three to figure out the situation and create an arrangement that keeps everyone happy?"

In truth, the three hikaris were totally confused by what Yami had said. But still, they understood what he meant, and nodded. "Basically," Marik said, "you want us to act like security for our soul rooms and hallways?"

"Uh... Well yes. Something like that. I think."

Ryou frowned. He shrank back a bit, but no one noticed.

"So everyone," Yugi said in a conclusive voice. I guess this is it?"

Everyone looked at everyone else and nodded at the same time.

"Then I guess see you guys later?"

They nodded again.

"But Pharaoh," Bakura said quickly.

"Yes?"

"Malik."

"What?"

"Still keep your promises. If I find out that any of you were in my soul room, I will make sure you stay there and never come out. Then I will kick you out and murder you. Is that clear?"

"Bakura that made absolutely no sense, but I get what you're trying to say and I will respect your privacy."

"Yeah what he said. Same to you, though."

"Whatever."

Everyone prepared to leave.

Malik and Marik moved back to their doorway. Yugi and Yami moved back to the left side of the hall. Ryou and Yami Bakura to the right.

They looked at each other one last time. Then the Yugis and Bakuras exited the hallway, and the Mariks went back in their soul room.

* * *

**Commercial break~!**

**Next week, on a very special episode of _Zorc and Pals_...**  
**"Zorc, what's wrong? Why haven't you destroyed the world?"**  
**"Because I have a terminal disease."**  
**"But you can't _die_! What about our adopted daughter? Who's going to take care of her when you're gone?"**  
**"She _also_ has a terminal disease."**  
**Don't miss this very special award-winning episode of _Zorc & Pals_, because we really need the ratings.**

**A special announcement from the author:  
"Hello everyone. I just realized something. Somehow, my mind made me put commercials in here because it thought that part 1 would be too boring without them. Also, I won't put these in Part2 because the whole 'acting like it's an episode of a show' isn't really working. Also, none of the commercials are mine. They are all taken from Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, episode 17 'We Interrupt This Broadcast'. They belong to Little Kuriboh, not me. Just a little disclaimer in there. Anyway enjoy the rest of the story~!"**

**And we're back! (in the next chapter, which should be up a few minutes after I post this one!)**

* * *

**Next chapter: PART 1: Chapter 8- Minor Aftermath ****~A few little reactions here and there...**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	8. P1, C8: Minor Aftermath

**********PART 1 IS ENDING SOOONNNNNNNN~!**

**********Previously on Triangular Hallway *cue "previously on yugioh" sounds*:  
**"Anyway..." Yami continued. "We should all consider figuring out how to live with _and_ reverse it. Me, Malik, and Yami Bakura will deal with the latter. Yugi, Marik, and Ryou, you deal with the former."

"So everyone," Yugi said in a conclusive voice. I guess this is it?"

Everyone looked at everyone else and nodded at the same time.  
***************dramatic outro noise***

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik'. Hikari Bakura is 'Bakura', but sometimes called 'Ryou' by Yami Bakura and Marik. Yami Bakura is 'Bakura' (don't worry you'll be able to tell the difference), sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik. Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 1, chapter 8. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 8  
**Minor Aftermath

* * *

Instead of talking to Malik and getting distracted, Marik quickly made himself wake up.

_"I can still talk to you, you know."_

_"Shut up. I know that. But what are we going to do now?"_

_"I'll be security. Anyone who tries to sneak in will have to deal with me."_

_"No... I don't trust you."_

_"We have the same mind. Whatever important secrets or whatever worth sneaking in for are the ones I actually care about protecting. So deal with me."_

_"No. I'd rather be in charge of keeping everyone else out, while you figure out how to fix it. Your mess, you clean it up."_

_"You really need to learn to start trusting me..."_

"Hmph..." Marik got out of bed and noticed that for some reason he was holding the Millenium Rod. "What is this randomness!" he shouted, and threw it on the carpeted floor.

_"I was paying a bit of attention. You had it on the nightstand and grabbed it while you were sleeping."_

_"Why would I do that?"_

_"I don't know!"_

"Well I certainly don't." He looked at the Millenium Item on the floor. He eyes it suspiciously, then retrieved it. He started to examine it, especially the place where Ryou had pointed out. "How the hell did you manage to get it stuck to the other two like that? And why did you go there anyway?"

_"Hmph. If anything, blame your boyfriend. And the Pharaoh. It's their fault for falling off the side of a rock."_

Marik chose to ignore the comment about Bakura. Where did Malik get that idea from anyway? "Well... thanks for saving them I guess..."

_"Hehehe... you're welcome. Now you owe me."_

"NO I DON'T!"

_"You do."_

"I don't."

_"You do."_

"Oh just shut up already! Why don't you come on out so I can yell to your face?"

Malik materialized behind him. He tapped Marik on the shoulder. "Hey there."

Marik swung his arm around, trying to hit him. The arm went right through.

He turned around and faced Malik. "Nice try."

"Just shut up and leave me alone! And you had better keep your promise and stay away from Yugi and Ryou!"

"Hhaha... Why don't you try to make me?"

"Maybe I will!"

"Marik are you okay?!"

Marik turned to the doorway, which Ishizu stood in, her face full of concern.

"Oh I'm fine..."

"You arguing with Malik again?" she asked, eyeing the spot where she suspected Malik stood.

"Yeah. But we're fine. Really."

Ishizu gently placed a hand on the Necklace around her neck. "If you're sure..." She started to leave.

But Malik suddenly had an idea. "Marik, stop her!"

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" She walked back in.

"What is it?" Marik asked Malik.

"Millenium Necklace. It might help."

"Oh! Ishizu!"

"Yes?"

"I need to ask you something..."

"About the Triangle?"

Marik gasped. "How did you know?"

She tapped the Millenium Necklace. "You want me to tell you the future about what will happen to you six because of it."

"Yes. And maybe if you can see a solution to all of this?"

Without another word, Ishizu nodded and walked inside the room and headed for Marik's bed. She sat down cross-legged and touched the Necklace with one hand, then closed her eyes and concentrated hard.

Marik and Malik moved to stand on either side of her, and waited silently for her to speak.

Two minutes later, Ishizu opened her eyes wide with a gasp.

"What did you see?" Marik and Malik both asked (even though she couldn't hear Malik).

She stared straight ahead. "Sometimes, I don't see visions, but rather fragments or cryptic illustrations of them."

"So what did you see?" Malik asked.

"She can't hear you, idiot," Marik reminded him.

"Well I said it so you could give her the message!"

"She's going to tell us anyway so just calm down!"

"Marik," Ishizu said, still looking straight ahead, "will you and Malik stop arguing and please be quiet before I lose my concentration?"

"Sorry."

"Thank you. Now what I saw was a bit strange but either you know what it means now or you will realize what it means later." She closed her eyes and brought each vision fragment to the forefront of her mind's eye. "I saw secrets hidden in the darkness, a bright red flame and a glint of gold, a heart...somehow in the shape of a hexagon, the Shadow Realm, several specific Duel Monsters cards but the images of the monsters on them are blurry, and this last one is the most confusing to me but...I see the eyes of all six of you, but the colors are of someone else's eyes." She opened her eyes and looked back and forth between Marik and where she assumed Malik was. "That is what I saw. I hope it helps you out and I hope it will make sense to you."

"Well," Marik said, "the part about the fire and gold kinda makes sense because that's how we got into this mess. Everything else I have no idea about." He looked at Malik. "We'll tell the others about this next time we meet and see if they understand some of this."

Malik nodded. "Right."

* * *

Yugi and Yami stood in their own hallway.

"So..." Yugi said. "Now what?"

"Now, you stay even farther away from Malik and Bakura."

"Wait... What?!"

"I didn't say Marik and Ryou. I just don't want this getting out of hand. And... I still need to keep my promise to stay away from them."

"So how do you expect to keep them away from me?"

"I trust your friends to deal with them..." Then he thought, _I just hope that I can trust Malik and Bakura to deal with _them.

"You can't expect to keep away from them if we're going to figure this thing out. Sometimes the six of us will need to meet up and we'll all just have to deal with it. As long as they keep themselves under control, everything should be fine, right?" Then Yugi had a thought... "Unless you sometimes start problems too..."

Yami laughed nervously. "Well aheheheh... Nobody's perfect."

"Exactly. So jut deal with it so we can fix this as soon as possible." He shuddered. "I don't want anyone messing with my soul room. Who knows what could happen..."

Yami walked closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "I'm sure the three of you will think of something to deal with that."

"And I hope the three of you figure out something to reverse this mess. Before something bad happens and before someone gets hurt..."

* * *

"Ryou..."

"Bakura..."

They stood there looking at each other.

"So," Bakura said to him, "out of everyone here I want this problem dealt with the most and I want it fixed fastest. So I'll allow you a tiny bit of freedom to do whatever you need to do to deal with your half of it..."

"Really?" Ryou asked excitedly. It was rarely even thought about that his yami would so obviously give him space and freedom to do whatever he wanted...

"_IF_!" Bakura continued, "you let me do whatever I need to do as well." He saw Ryou's smile fade. "What? You thought I was just going to let you run off and do whatever you want? Oh no. You're only allowed in my soul room if I let you. If I should ever let you in and roam around, you had better stay out of the darkest part. And I'll know when you've been there."

"What? Darkest...?" he murmured.

"But I doubt that you'll even figure out how to get in to the darkest part. But anyway... Of course that means that you have to let me in as well if I need something from you. I can read your memories as easily as you could read mine. If I find out that you learned something you shouldn't, and you find out the same about me... Well if you tell, I tell. Clear?"

"But you promised..."

"I never promised anything. I said 'whatever'."

"But-!"

"No buts! You do your thing, I do mine. You keep quiet, I kep quiet." The spirit walked over to his soul room door and opened it. Before he entered, he looked back at Ryou and said, "Because I know that something will go wrong and as innocent as everyone thinks you are it will most likely be your fault."

He closed the door.

Ryou stared at the closed door. Then he walked over to the door of his soul room and leaned against the wall next to it. He slid to the floor and buried his head in his hands. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Then he remembered what he had been doing before this had happened. He took over his body again, which was still lying on one of the staircase landings in his apartment building, and ran the rest of the way home. He entered his apartment and headed straight for his room.

He closed the door and leaned against it just like how he had leaned against the wall in his soul room minutes ago, and buried his face in his hands again. Once more, he whispered to himself, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

* * *

**I'm sorry if part one isn't very exciting. But please bear with me because it's over and because part two is much more interesting and eventful. That's where the DRAMA happens tee hee hee!**

**I PROMISE THAT PART 2 WILL BE BETTER~!  
I'll go back and fix the part of Chapter 1 with Bakura sometime soon because even _I_ get confused!**

**OMG PART TWO IS HERE! I will start Part 2 in the next chapter and trust me it WILL be better! this first part was like one big prologue that I could have just put into one whole chapter in itself. Part two will be much longer, have more drama, some ROMANCE (tee hee hee see if u can figure out the pairings before I reveal them! anything is possible!), secrets, and it's pretty much me showing you my headcannon (is that what it's called?) of certain YGO things and pairings and giving it a plot. Some name usages will be changed possibly maybe. Oh and there's a fight! OOOOHHH! So see you then! And see you soon.**

**Now that I've had more time to write more stuff, I have a whole lot of things for that part so I should update more regularly! weekly maybe at longest. And the chapter formating will change a bit, in terms of ANs and commercials.**

**So brace yourself!**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	9. P2, C1: The First Official Meeting

**Here we are! At part 2. This is where the epic stuff happens! This is where the shipping happens, the drama, the secrets, the fights! OMG! EVERYTHING!**

**Go ahead, start foreshadowing and inferring and predicting and betting on stuff. Have fun. Only _I_ know what will really happen!  
****tee hee hee!**

**Chapters from now on will be MUCH longer.  
There will no longer be any "commercials" and "previously" sections.  
****I will randomly start switching and changing the characters and maybe genres of this story as I post each chapter, because I want _EVERYONE_ to be able to find this cuz it's got like so many stuffs in it. I believe that for all of part 1 the genres were "Spiritual" and "Drama" and the characters were Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura.**

**Just so you know who is who, these are the names used: Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik'. Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is the second part of Triangular Hallway. IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, PLEASE READ "The Volcanic Escape: A Prologue to Triangular Hallway" FIRST, if you are stupid enough to not have done so already with how many times I've been telling you!**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 1.**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**/\PART 2/\**

Dealing With The Triangle

* * *

**Chapter 1  
**The First Official Meeting

* * *

~The very next day, around noon...~

Ryou and Marik heard a noise from their cell phones. Yugi had texted them.

/Meet at the shop. Tell yamis as well. About /\./

Immediately, the two started getting ready to head over to Yugi's place. They sent a mental message to Malik and Bakura and a text message to Yugi that they were on their way.

.

At the same time, Yugi wrote out what he prepared to tell them about and let his grandpa know that Bakura and Marik were visiting.

"Oh for a play date?"

Yugi and his grandpa stood in the shop. Yugi was in front of the counter while grandpa was behind it.

"Uh... Sort of..."

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that trip you took last week," he asked, "would it?"

Well that was news. Yugi never knew that Grandpa knew about the trip. But he probably only knew about the trip's occurrence, and not anything about it. So then why didn't Yami mention that Grandpa knew about it?

"Not really..." Yugi half lied.

"You don't have to tell me, then. I'll keep my promise not to ask you about it."

Another surprise. He had also apparently promised not to ask about the trip.

Yami had some explaining to do.

"Okay then. Just don't interrupt us. It's very important."

"Hm... Alright then. See you later. I'll be down here." He went back to messing with something behind the counter.

"I'll be in my room. Just send them up. I'll be watching for them out the window."

"Alright."

Yugi went upstairs to his room.

He immediately asked Yami to come out. Yami appeared on the bed next to where Yugi leaned on his desk and looked out the window. "What is it?" he asked.

"I texted them. They should be on their way."

"Excellent."

"But Yami..." Yugi turned to him. "You've been keeping something from me..."

"Hm?"

"You never told me that Grandpa knew about _and_ allowed this. Why is that?"

"Simple," he said in a calm and even tone. "I told him, them I mind crushed him into agreeing. I didn't want you finding out."

Yugi's jaw instantly dropped. "You did_ WHAT_?!"

Yami started laughing. "Oh, Yugi, I'm just joking! You know that! I would never do that to your friends or family. You know me."

Yugi relaxed and turned back to the window. "Sorry. I'm just a little on edge..."

"Because of Bakura and Malik?"

"A bit. But mostly about this whole situation. It's just...so confusing. But hopefully this meeting will clear things up."

"Me too."

"So you didn't really answer my question. Why didn't you tell me that Grandpa knew and approved? Oh, and why did you make him promise not to ask about it?"

Yami sighed. "Well as for telling you he knew, I didn't think it was necessary. I figured it would be obvious that if I did get to go, that he knew about it anyway. I wouldn't just go somewhere without telling someone. But as for the second thing well..."

Yugi turned to him again and Yami looked away.

"I...didn't want him to know about what would happen in there. Simple. Whatever information I found out would remain between me and Bakura and Malik. No need for him to know. It didn't even have anything to do with the Millenium Items, so he would have no connection to anything that might happen or anything that we found or saw. He didn't need to know, so I didn't want him to ask."

"Well... Next time, tell me that you're doing these things, okay? Let me know when you tell Grandpa something." Yugi's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait! I just realized that I didn't tell Téa, Joey, or Tristan anything about this! Do they know or think anything about this?!"

Yami actually looked clueless for once about the whole situation. "Actually, I don't know. I somehow managed to sneak off without them finding out. And they didn't ask you about it when you returned, remember?"

"Yeah. They didn't ask where I'd been. They just said, 'nice to see you again'."

"Probably because they didn't think it odd for you to be MIA for two days."

"Two days without seeing them isn't actually that long. We don't hang out every single day." Yugi suddenly looked grim and worried. "I hope this situation with Bakura and Marik doesn't interfere with my relationship with the rest of my friends."

"Me too."

Yugi turned back to the window once more. Yami got off the bed and joined Yugi at the window to watch for Ryou and Marik.

* * *

Ryou and Marik met up at a street corner a few blocks away from the game shop.

"Hey, Ryou!" Marik greeted cheerfully.

"Hi, Marik," Ryou greeted back. "So what do you think he wants to talk about?"

"I don't know... Something about the Triangle. Maybe he found a solution to our part of it?"

"Could be. But then why does he need Bakura and Malik to be there as well?"

"Maybe the Pharaoh has something to say to them?"

"Could be."

It would be their first official meeting about the Triangular Hallway (or simply The Triangle, two terms they used to refer to their linked soul hallways) since they had learned about it. The day before yesterday, they had first discovered that their minds had linked and created a triangular soul hallway between the six of them. The two days before that, Ryou, Marik, and Yugi had returned home on a private jet that the yamis had set up for them. And two days prior that, the yamis had organized the crazy trip to some temple-volcano system place and had taken the same private jet there.

They had already talked about the adventure in the temple/volcano, and they had already talked about who would do what. The task of keeping privacy and peace among the six lights and darks and their respective hallways and rooms was given to the hikaris, the lights: Yugi, Ryou, and Marik. The task of unraveling the whole truth about the cause of this phenomenon and finding a solution to reverse it was given to the yamis, the darks: the Pharaoh, Bakura, and Malik.

As they walked and talked, they didn't notice two forms materializing behind them.

Bakura and Malik materialized in midair to eavesdrop on their hikaris. But they noticed each other.

"You?!" they both whispered.

"You got an invitation too?" Bakura asked.

"Of course I did," Malik replied. "I don't know why, though. After all, the Pharaoh wants us as far away as possible from him and Yugi."

"Maybe the little midget actually came up with something."

"You know that saying 'little midget' is redundant, right?"

"I do. But I don't care."

"That it also redundant. Everyone knows that you don't care."

"Shut up. We're here."

Ryou and Marik had crossed the street. Bakura and Malik could see Yugi and the Pharaoh watching from the window.

Yugi and Yami noticed all four of them arriving. They stepped away from the window. Yugi sat on the floor and Yami sat on the bed again.

~•~

A few moments later, Yugi heard the faint tingle of the bell of the game shop door. He heard Grandpa's, Ryou's, and Marik's voices before he heard two sets of feet running to his room.

Moments later, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in," Yugi called.

The door opened. Ryou and Marik stood in the doorway, and Yugi could see Bakura and Malik standing behind each of them.

Time for their first official meeting about the Triangular Soul Hallway.

* * *

Yami, Bakura, and Malik were all on edge. All of them refused to sit. Yami stood near the desk, Bakura stood near the door, and Malik stood against the wall opposite the bed.

The rest of them sat down... Somewhat...strategically. Yugi sat near Malik, Ryou sat near Yami, and Marik sat near Bakura.

Bakura was the first to speak. "Whatever you called us here for had better be worth my time."

"Like you were busy doing something important," Ryou muttered under his breath, too low for even Yami to hear.

_"I was being sarcastic,"_ Bakura said to him mentally. _"Shut up."_

_"Wasn't talking to you! Stop reading my mind!"_

_"No. And shut up."_

Ryou groaned at him in annoyance.

_"Yeah right back at you."_

"Of course it is, Bakura," Yami said, taking a step forward. "It's about The Triangle. Everyone will have time to share whatever they found out since yesterday. But first I'd like to start by saying something to Bakura and Malik."

"Yes, Pharaoh?" they asked in unison.

"The agreement we made about staying away from each other will have to end. Not only will it make things difficult for all of us, but it also is acting as an excuse for us not to learn self-control around each other. I know we can cause trouble together, but it's not because of what we are, it's because of how we act. So instead of avoiding each other, let's just learn to not cause too much trouble when we're in the same room."

"Sounds reasonable," Bakura said with a shrug.

"I can live with that," Malik said with a smirk. "As long as Ninja Puff over here doesn't act like the asshole he always is."

Bakura stepped threateningly towards Malik with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Don't start something with me..." he growled.

"Hey!" Yami shouted at them.

They snapped their heads in his direction.

"This is exactly what I was talking about. There's no need for this. It'll only make this situation worse and harder to live with."

"Fine..." they both grumbled. They backed off.

"Thank you." He addressed the whole room. "Now Yugi and I have devised a schedule that should keep us organized within the first week. It ensures that everyone has time to meet, think about it, and get a break or two for themselves. Yugi?" Yami stepped backwards.

Yugi stepped forward with a piece of paper in his hands, the paper he had written on earlier. "So here it is..." He started reading from it. "Tomorrow will be a free day for everyone to get a break from worrying about this. Then the next day, the three of you," he pointed to Yami, Bakura, and Malik in turn, "can have a chance to meet and talk about whatever you need to talk about, while the three of us do our own thing. Then the next day, we'll switch. You three can take control for the day..."

"I think I have a problem with that..." Ryou started to say.

Bakura cut him off. "Shut up, vessel."

Ryou growled quietly at him.

Yugi continued. "...while the three of us get time to think about how do deal with our part. If we think of something interesting or useful, we'll meet up and talk about it. The next day, all six of us will have another meeting and talk about our total findings. Then we'll have another whole day of a break from this, then on the sixth day we'll do whatever we need to do based on whatever happened at the meetings. Got all that?"

Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds and processed the schedule that Yugi had just outlined for them. Then they all nodded and murmured their agreements.

"So, does anyone have any questions?"

Ryou raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Um... Are you telling the others about this? You know... Téa and Joey and Tristan?"

Yugi's face darkened and saddened a bit. "No. I'm not. Usually they would stand by me through everything and never give up on me. But to be honest I'd prefer to keep them as far away from a certain two of you as possible. You know who I mean. And this isn't really their problem, anyway. I don't see how they could help. Also, I'm afraid that knowing how Bakura and Malik are involved might make them suspicious and wary of you and Marik, which I know that none of us want."

"I wouldn't mind those lame friends of yours keeping their distance from me," Bakura said.

Yugi continued and ignored him. "So we..."

_Why does he enjoy constantly driving my friends away from me?_

_"Because I can."_

_"Stop reading my thoughts!"_

_"Stop being annoying."_

_"I am not!"_

_"You're always annoying."_

_"Leave me alone."_

"Bakura?"

"Huh?" both Bakuras said.

"Which one?" Ryou asked.

"You."

"Why don't you ever call me Ryou? It gets confusing."

"Because I'm just used to calling you Bakura."

"Yeah but that's what everyone calls him," he noted out, pointing to the spirit of the evil thief by the door.

"I shouldn't _have_ to call you anything else. You should be able to answer to your own name. He shouldn't be allowed to steal your identity from you."

Ryou laughed. "Yeah, tell him that! I've tried to say that for the past few years but he doesn't care."

"It was once my name before," Bakura butted in. "You just happened to have it as well. Sort of like how Yugi just happened to be born with the same ridiculous hairstyle that the Pharaoh had in his past life. So if anything, _you_ stole _my_ name."

"And you stole my freedom!" Ryou shouted dramatically.

"Dramatic, much?"

"Hey!" Yugi shouted at them.

The two Bakuras suddenly remembered that there were other people in the room. Ryou blinked and backed off. So did Bakura.

"As I was saying... Did you hear what I said?"

"When?"

"When I was talking about the others getting involved. You zoned out."

"Oh. What did you say?"

"I said that we should just act like nothing happened. Just don't do anything about it in front of them. And don't go through the trouble of covering anything up. They won't ask, so we won't tell. And I'm pretty sure they don't even have any suspicion or curiosity about that little two day trip we went on." He looked at Yami when he said this. Yami's face remained neutral. "Oh and that reminds me! Don't tell any of the adults about this! We don't need anyone else dealing with this! That means my grandpa, Marik's sister or brother, and anyone else that Bakura knows."

"Speaking of other people!" Marik had finally spoken up.

"Yeah, Marik?"

"I've been waiting like forever to get this out! Something that me and Malik found out yesterday! It was actually his idea to ask." Malik smiled smugly at the credit. "Apparently, the Millenium Necklace had shown Ishizu some things about our little situation here."

"What?!" everyone except Marik and Malik cried at the same time.

"All she knows is that our minds and soul hallways have been linked and who is involved. And that we all came back from some trip. Nothing much beyond that. Malik suggested we ask her to look at our future to see what it holds."

"So what did she say?" Ryou asked.

"I remember it clearly. This is exactly what she saw: secrets hidden in the darkness, a bright red flame and a glint of gold, a heart somehow in the shape of a hexagon, the Shadow Realm, several specific Duel Monsters cards but the images of the monsters on them were blurry, and the eyes of all six of us, but the colors were of someone else's eyes. That mean anything to anyone?"

Everyone shook their heads. "But the thing with the fire and gold could just be referring to the cause of all this," Yugi said. "The volcano."

"That's what I thought as well. For all we know, she could have seen the past and the future at the same time. It happens sometimes."

"So what could it mean?" Yami wondered aloud.

"Uh... What I just said. The cause of all of this. Seems pretty obvious."

"Right but I meant everything else. I noticed there are six of them so how about we each try to focus on one of them?"

Everyone thought that sounded like a decent idea.

They each picked one. Except for Malik, who ended up picking last. Because for some reason no one wanted the remaining vision to figure out so he was stuck with it.

"Marik, question," Bakura said when they were done picking.

"Yeah?"

"Is she going to get involved in this more? Your sister, I mean. Or was that a one time only thing?"

Marik honestly hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. It depends. Do you think she should? If she could do this again when we need her to, it would help us out a lot."

"No!" Yami, Yugi, and Ryou all cried.

Bakura and Marik turned to them with confused expressions on their faces. "Why not?" they asked together.

"Because I don't think we need any outside interference from another Millenium Item," Ryou replied, "when the three we already have are the cause of this mess. It was a good idea to ask her just this once for answers, Malik, but we should only do it again if absolutely necessary."

Malik smiled again at getting the credit and Marik and Bakura nodded in understanding. "I think that was the first reasonable thing you said all day," Bakura said to him.

"Leave me alone."

"No."

"Oh just leave him alone," Marik said.

"Fine... I will."

"Thanks, Marik," Ryou whispered.

"You can just bother him later."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding, Ryou! Gosh..."

"Hmph."

"About the Millenium Items," Malik said, "I think we should..."

"Go over who has what?" Marik finished for him. "I've got this memorized. Yugi and Pharaoh have the Puzzle, Malik and I have the Rod, Ryou and Bakura have the Ring, Ishizu has the Necklace, Pegasus has the Eye, Odion has the Scales and..." He stopped and blanked out for a second. "I forgot who has the Key."

Malik shook his head at his forgetful light. "I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say that we find out what powers they all have."

"And that's your business _because_?" Bakura asked, folding his arms.

Ryou and Yugi instinctively put a hand on their Items.

"Because I don't want any surprises with them. I don't want to find out that something crazy weird happened and realize that it's because of some unknown Millenium power that we could have stopped if we knew about it. And I'm sure that no one else does either. So spill, Touzoku."

Bakura put a protective hand on the Millenium Ring he wore, just like Ryou was doing with the actual Millenium Ring. "Not a chance. I have a right to my secrets. And don't even try to bribe me with information because I already know almost every single power that every single Item has. You all know that, right?"

They _did_ know that.

"Either way," Malik said. "I suggest that we make a list of every power our Items have, and share it at the big meeting. It might help."

"Fine," everyone said, some with sighs of annoyance. No need to guess from who.

"So..." Yami said in a conclusive tone, after an awkward silence, "to sum up, tomorrow we get a break, Wednesday the darks meet, Thursday the lights meet, Friday we all meet, Saturday we take a break again, then Sunday we act upon whatever we found out Friday. We won't tell anyone about this, and we can't do anything about Ishizu knowing now..."

"I could always just erase her memory..." Bakura suggested.

Yami, Malik, and Marik all replied to his comment at the same time.

"You'd better not."  
"Touch her and die, Fluffy!"  
"Back off, kitty."

Surprisingly, Malik said the first comment, Marik said the second comment, and Yami said the third.

You wouldn't have thought, right?

"anyway..." Yami continued after a semi-awkward silence, "...and we all try to unlock every secret of out Millenium Items that we possibly can, right?"

"Right," everyone said in unison.

"Then that's pretty much it..."

"Oh don't forget that school starts again on Monday!" Yugi pointed out.

Marik and Ryou realized he was right and started muttering their complaints and saying "oh he's right i forgot..." and such.

"Yeah so we'd better figure something out before then."

"Why is it so important to do it before Monday?" Marik asked.

"Because I don't want to have to worry about this," Ryou replied.

Everyone agreed. Despite what the other four assumed, the yamis actually worried about school almost as much as their hikaris did. They had an agreement to not take over during school, though, which was a relief for all of them. Most of them started wondering if things would get too complicated due to the Triangle and interfere with school, especially with the fact that Yugi, Marik, and Ryou shared most of their classes with each other.

But no one brought this one worry up.

And this one worry, brought on by Yugi mentioning school, would be the worry that would ruin tomorrow for some of them.

* * *

_~Somewhere else...~_

"Joey! You idiot!"

"Sorry," Joey whispered. "It's not my fault I fell!"

The listened. Silence.

"Yeah it is," Tristan said. "You're always failing like that!"

"Don't you mean 'falling'?" Tea questioned.

"That too."

"Oh shut up and just walk! At least we weren't heard... I really don't want to get him mad. And who knows what those creeps will do if we piss them off?"

"Which creeps?"

"Which ones do you think?"

The three walked away.

"Hey wait a minute, weren't we just going to see Yugi?" Tristan asked. "Where are we going now?"

"Another time," Tea replied. "Tomorrow, Saturday, or Monday. He should be free then."

"Oh right."

"I still don't get why he isn't free right now."

* * *

"Leaving so soon? And without a word..." they all heard Yugi's grandpa muttering to himself when they walked back into the shop.

Then he noticed the three lights. "Oh hello there, you three," he greeted. They walked around to in front of the counter. "Done with your little meeting?"

They automatically turned their heads for a quick glance at the three yamis hovering behind them, before answering in unison, "Yes, we are."

"Oh okay then. Are you leaving anytime soon?"

"I think so..." Yugi turned to Marik who was on his left and Bakura who was on Marik's left. "Are you?"

"Yeah, we are," Marik replied. "I think I forgot to tell Ishizu that I was going out. But I think she stepped out a short while before I did, anyway... Can't quite remember though."

"Yes," Bakura said. "And I think I was doing something important at home... Although with everything on my mind right now, I think I forgot what it was..."

"Well I'm sure you two will remember later," Solomon reassured them.

"So I-" Bakura started to say. But he stopped when he heard a laugh coming from behind him. He turned around and gasped at what he saw.

"What is it?" Yugi and Marik asked when they heard him. They also turned around and also gasped.

Yami and Malik were having a staring contest, and were trying to hit the other's arms or face and whatevers to make him blink. And apparently this was a shining contest because they both had those glowing eyes on their heads and were trying to outshine the other's glowing eye. Bakura's yami was just staring at the two and laughing at them, trying to interfere with their game by trying to mess one or the other up and make them blink. He was obviously amused by the fact that they were having a contest over something so stupid.

"Yami!"  
"Pharaoh!"  
"Bakura!"

As before, who shouted what wasn't what you'd expect. Marik shouted the first, Yugi shouted the second, and Bakura shouted the third.

"Huh?" Yugi's grandpa said, wondering what they were staring at. With Yugi, it was probably the Pharaoh again. The same might be true for Marik and Bakura...possibly

They all ignored him. Yami Bakura briefly glanced up but ignored them otherwise.

"Go, Pharaoh!" Marik shouted. "Kick Malik's ass and send him back to the Shadow Realm where even that freaky eye can't help him!"

Malik turned to him and smirked. "You don't really mean that, do you?" he said with a faked hurt tone.

"I do," Marik said all serious-like. Malik blinked in confusion, wondering if he meant it.

"Ha!" Yami shouted triumphantly. "You blinked!"

"Aw, why did you have to go an lose, Malik?" Yami Bakura said sadly. "I was going to root for you eventually."

"Shut up, Ninja Puff!" Malik cried, turning to said ninja puff. "No you weren't!"

"Are we not still on the same side?"

"Not anymore."

"Oh don't be so childish about it. At least it wasn't a Shadow Game. Should've been, though."

"Yeah go ahead and try to start a Shadow Game when I'm around," Yami said to him. "See what happens."

"Was that a threat?"

"Yes. Yes it was."

"How about I-" Yami Bakura clenched his fists and threateningly took a step towards Yami.

The three hikaris stood there watching for a few seconds before jumping into action. They opened up their mind links with their yamis so they could physically interfere.

"Hey stop!"  
"Back off!"  
"What are you doing?"  
"Stop this now!"  
"Argh!"  
"Don't touch me!"

They all started arguing. Mostly the pairs arguing with each other about the stupid contest and the interference.

Yugi's grandpa just stood there and watched awkwardly.

Then he decided to help out.

"HELLO?!"

Everyone froze and turned their heads to him. "Yeah?" they asked.

"I believe that Bakura and Marik were leaving?"

Oh yeah...

Everyone stood up straight, the hikaris stepped away from each other, and the yamis went behind their hikaris. Bakura and Marik stepped towards the door.

"See?" Yami cried. "_This_ is why I didn't want us to be near each other!"

"Oh way to be a hypocrite, Pharaoh!" Malik shouted at him. "_You_ were the one who said we need to get over it and deal with each other. And _you_ were the one who said to me, 'If you're gonna keep staring at me then how about we make a contest out of it?' You-"

"Even _I_ could tell he was being sarcastic!" Yami Bakura butted in.

"Everyone shut up! Please, all of you just stop!"

Everyone turned to the person who had just spoken.

Bakura looked back at them. "Sorry. Just... ugh..." He put his head down and headed for the door. "Let's go, Yami. Marik and Malik wait a minute or two for us to get a head start." Then he walked out.

Everyone looked at Yami Bakura awkwardly. He shrugged. A few moments later, due to the distance from the Ring which Bakura had just walked (or maybe ran?), he disappeared.

The whole room was silent.

A minute later, Marik and Malik decided to clear out.

"See you later, I guess..." Marik said as he and Malik left. Tired of all the drama and craziness that had just occurred, Malik retreated into their soul room for the rest of the day, hoping that he wouldn't find anyone there. He'd _better_ not find anyone there!

"Bye, Marik," Yugi said somewhat sadly as he waved and watched them walk out the shop door.

Yugi then turned to Yami, his face angry and annoyed.

"What did I do?" Yami asked innocently.

Yugi said nothing, and simply walked back to his room.

* * *

**And so it begins!  
Like my triangle?  
/\  
So do I.**

**If you ever get confused, use the cover as a guide for how things are. It's exactly how the Triangle in the story would look (not counting the colors).**

**A random little scene, because I feel like it. From YGOTAS:**

**Marik: (In Melvin's voice) SOON THE MIND RAPING SHALL COMMENCE!  
Bakura: What the devil was that?  
Marik: Foreshadowing. It happens.  
Bakura: I believe this is called 'thiefshipping'.  
Marik: You believe what is called what?**

**Next chapter:  
PART 2: Chapter 2- Stressful Relaxation 1  
~The first break from worrying about the Triangle. But is it really a break?**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	10. P2, C2: Stressful Relaxation 1

**Here we are! At part 2. This is where the epic stuff happens! This is where the shipping happens, the drama, the secrets, the fights! OMG! EVERYTHING!**

**Remember those previews and chapter name outlines from the Prologue? (Of course you do!) Forget every single one of them. There are no guarantees, and anything is possible from here on out.**

**Chapters from now on will be MUCH longer.  
ANs will be shorter.**

**Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik'. Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 2.**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 2  
**/\ Stressful Relaxation 1 /\

* * *

"Yugi."

Yugi looked up and gasped loudly. He saw Yami standing in the doorway to his soul room, one hand on the doorknob. He looked at Yugi in concern. "You plan on coming out any time soon?"

"No. And how did you get in? The door was 'locked'."

Yami made the Puzzle around his neck glow for a brief second. "I have my ways. What are you doing?"

At the moment, Yugi was sitting in a beanbag chair in the corner of his soul room. He was supposed to be relaxing, like everyone said they would, and not thinking about the Triangle, but...

"Why are you thinking about it?" Yami asked, reading his mind. He walked over to his hikari and sat down in front of him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. But it's just that... Well it happened again." He started talking in a sarcastic and irritated voice. "Something else happened with the Millenium whatevers and now life is messed up and ruined and we have to go on some crazy adventure and five billion card games and so many magical stuffs that I don't want to deal with but have to because we have to fix this and save the world and..."

"Yugi, calm down."

Yami's stern tone of voice instantly silenced him.

"Listen, I don't remember who said it, but whoever said something about me, Bakura, and Malik destroying the world when we're in the same room was either joking or being stupidly sarcastic. There's nothing to worry about. Everything will be just fine."

"Yeah sure... I just want to be able to go through one semester, _one_ marking period even, without something coming up and we have to leave school for a few days and deal with some magical bull crap that always seems to happen to me. Why me? Just because I'm the vessel for some 5000 year old pharaoh?" Yugi stopped talking and looked at Yami, worried that he might have hurt the spirit's feelings a bit.

It didn't seem that he had. "Like I said, everything's fine. Trust me. The six of us will find a way to live with and reverse this Triangular mess we have here. I promise. And no one will get hurt. You won't have to stop going to school at all, and it won't affect school at all. Trust me. It will be okay."

Yugi looked away, closed his eyes, and sighed. "Don't make a promise you can't keep, Pharaoh."

Yami frowned a bit. Yugi didn't notice. Yugi rarely called him 'Pharaoh' anymore, and called him 'Yami' or 'Spirit'. Calling him 'Pharaoh' was usually tied to extreme emotions. Mostly negative. Worry was what Yugi felt at that moment. Yami could tell.

"I'm not," Yami said to him. He held out a hand to his light. "Now let's go. The others are here."

Yugi perked up. "Tea and Joey and Tristan?" he asked.

Yami smiled at the fact that Yugi had thought of _those_ others as opposed to the others that they now shared a Triangular Soul Hallway with. It was a good sign. "Yes. Now let's go," he said again.

Yugi smiled and took the hand. Together, they went back to the world outside their mind.

Yugi materialized in spirit form next to where Yami was sitting on the floor next to his bed. Tea, Joey, and Tristan were sitting around him in a semi-circle. "Hey, he's back," Tristan noted.

"Hey guys," Yugi automatically said. "How are you?"

Yami chuckled a bit. "Yugi, they can't hear you."

"Oh, I forgot."

"What did he say?" Tea asked.

"Let me switch first," Yami replied.

Yami and Yugi switched out with the other. Now Yugi was in control of their body and Yami was next to him. "I'll be in my soul room if you need me," Yami said before disappearing.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Yugi repeated.

"We're fine," Tea said. "But what about you? The Pharaoh said you've been locked in your soul room since breakfast. You feeling okay?"

"Maybe he's just stressin' about yes-OW!" Tristan elbowed Joey hard in the ribs before he could continue.

"Shut up! Don't tell him!"

"Tell me what?" Yugi asked as he looked back and forth between both boys.

"Oh nothing!" Tea said with a smile. As Yugi was looking at them, Tea glared at Joey. He took the hint and nodded.

"Hm... So anyway what's been going on with you?" Yugi asked.

"Nothing much. Just wondering how you are. And worrying about school."

"Ugh I hate how we have to go back on Monday."

Joey saying 'Monday' made Yugi's mood sink a bit. "Yeah... sucks, right?"

_"Yugi..."_ Yami sent to him. _"Stop thinking about it..."_

_"I know..."_

"So, where were you yesterday? Tea wanted to see you and Joey kinda sorta fell on the way here. We decided not to though."

"Oh now who's mentioning it!" Joey cried. "Hypocrite!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yes you did!"

Joey and Tristan suddenly locked hands and started pushing on each other.

Tea rolled her eyes. "Those two idiots." She turned to Yugi. "So how is everything? And how are Marik and Bakura? And your grandpa? And Ishizu? We haven't talked to any of them in days."

Yugi forced himself not to feel stressed out again at her words. "Grandpa is fine. Shop is going good this past week. Ryou is doing okay, Bakura is still a nosy thief. Marik is okay and I guess Ishizu is alright as well, Malik is just as dark and insane as always..." He tried, but failed. He sighed and tilted his head back against the bed. "Uuuuuuugggghhhh..." he groaned loudly.

"Hey what's wrong?" Tea moved next to him and slid a hand under his head and put it on his shoulder.

"Nothing. Just some thing with..." _Should I tell her? No, we all promised not to. But I could tell her vague details..._ "Marik and Bakura."

"Uh... Just a heads up for me please... It wouldn't be Millenium related, would it?" Yugi gasped. _She..._ "Don't worry. If it's about that, I won't ask untill you're ready to tell. Isn't that right, guys?"

Tristan and Joey stopped fighting for one second to reply, "Yep."

"Those two are such idiots..." Tea gave Yugi a one-armed reassuring hug. "Whatever's bothering you, don't let it. Just keep calm and carry on."

Yugi smiled and hugged back. "Thanks, Tea."

"No problem."

They watched Joey and Tristan argue for a few more seconds before Joey backed off and announced, for the second time in half an hour, that he was hungry.

"Joey!" everyone shouted at him.

"What? You know me. I have no control over my appetite."

Yugi smiled and shook his head at his friends.

Maybe he _would_ get to enjoy this day of freedom after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryou was in his room, writing a letter.

"What's that?" a voice from behind him asked.

Ryou automatically turned around, threw his arms over the paper, and shouted, "Go away!" Then he realized that it was only Bakura and said, "Oh. It's you." He moved his arms away from the paper.

"Who else would it be?"

"I don't know... Sorry. I'm a little on edge today..."

"About the Triangle? So am I. Now stop. And so will I."

"What?"

"Look, Ryou. Today is the only day all six of us will have to ourselves to not worry about this situation that the Pharaoh got us into..."

"I thought you already admitted that it was your fault, not his."

"First of all, he took us there in the first place. Second of all, shut the hell up and stop interrupting me."

Ryou scowled at him, but the spirit didn't notice or care. "So calm down and just relax. Your emotions are starting to leak over to my side. And I don't like it. It's starting to piss me off. By the way," he leaned over Ryou's shoulder to look at the paper. "What are you doing?"

"None of your damn business," Ryou replied harshly and went right back to writing.

"Ooh. Someone _is_ on edge. Feisty today, are we? What is that you're writing?"

"I said it's none of your business..."

"And I asked what it is. That means you tell me. I could just pull the information right out of your mind but I'm feeling nice today." He leaned farther over Ryou's shoulder and read the first few lines.

"'Dear Amane... How are you doing? I'd usually tell you that your big brother is doing fine but recently I can't say that. The other day...'" Bakura stood up straight. His mouth went from an amused smirk to a tight line. "Ryou... Are you serious? I thought you stopped writing those months ago..."

Ryou closed his eyes tightly and clutched his pencil in his fist until his hand started sweating. He begged his eyes to remain dry. "It..." he tried to reply, "...calms me down and distracts me. I decided to start up again. It's the only definite and consistent thing I have in my life. It keeps my mind off the Triangle. And your presence doesn't. Now please go away so I can enjoy one of my last days of freedom from thinking about it. Please." He relaxed his hold on his pencil and resumed writing.

Bakura was bored, and decided to mess with his host. The smirk returned. He leaned on the back of the chair and leaned close to Ryou. "You do know," he whispered, "that she is never going to see any of your letters, right?"

Ryou dropped the pencil so he wouldn't break it. Then he swung his arm backwards and- had the spirit behind him been tangible- Ryou would have hit it right in the face.

"Nice try," Bakura said unfazed by the sudden attempted violence.

"Why don't you just let me kill you so you can deliver them to her?" he replied in an offended tone of voice. "Oh right, that won't work! Because if you die you'll be going to hell, not heaven like she did!"

Bakura stared at him.

Ryou stared right back.

Bakura expected him to start crying at some point, but he didn't. Instead, he simply turned back around and resumed writing. "Piss off."

"Nope. I'm bored. And I feel like bothering you." Bakura turned around so he could lean against the back of the chair. He closed his eyes and continued smirking smugly. "Because I'm just that evil. Especially to you."

His eyes opened and his smirk faded when he felt a disturbance. It came from his hikari, but also their soul hallway in general. But the hallway wasn't where the disturbance was happening, he could tell... He whipped around and heard the sound of metal hitting the wall. He had turned around just in time to watch his host take off the Millenium Ring and fling it against the wall. It landed on the bed below the wall with a very quiet thud. Ryou went right back to writing once more. "Piss off," he repeated.

Bakura stared back and forth between the Ring and Ryou. Then he laughed. "Nice try, vessel," he said. "But you know it takes much, much longer than a few seconds for me to lose contact with you when you're not wearing the Ring." He put a ghostly arm around Ryou and leaned in close again. "And you know that I can still teleport it to you, even if it's far away." He leaned closer and whispered as creepily as he could, "And you know that I can still take control of you even when you aren't wearing it."

He allowed Ryou to process his words and only gave him time to shiver before he made good on his words: he took over their body.

Ryou didn't even have time to protest or resist. He was violently (it seemed to him) thrust into his soul room.

(Long ago, in the early months of his relationship with his yami, Ryou had simply been thrown into the dark abyss of unconsciousness whenever Bakura took over. After that, he started (unknowingly at first, then by choice and with effort) transporting to his soul room instead during these times. Unlike with Yami and Yugi, he and Bakura didn't simply "switch" positions of control. Control was taken, not given.)

Then, a few moments later, he was violently pulled out of it again as control was forced back to him.

He breathed heavily from the excitement. He noticed that he was once again wearing the Millenium Ring, which was what tied him to the mess of the Triangle, under his shirt and touching his skin instead of over his shirt and away from his skin, and Bakura was still behind him in spirit form. He turned around in his seat to face him. "Don't try that again," Bakura said to him. "You know what will happen."

Ryou wanted to say something in response to him, but he didn't know what to say. He just stared up at him helplessly and (as little as he let his face show) fearfully. Bakura didn't give him time to think of a response, anyway.

Ryou clutched at his chest, more in surprise than pain, when he felt one of the Ring's sharp spikes poke his skin. It was a warning.

Bakrua chuckled. "Remember who you're dealing with, vessel."

Ryou shivered a bit. Then he turned back around and faced forward. He grabbed the pencil and paper and said in a low voice, "_im done_"

"What was that?"

"I'm done," he repeated. "Have fun being in control for the rest of the day. I'm not dealing with you today." He gave Bakura control of theri body, retreated into his soul room, and somehow took the pencil and paper with him.

Bakura's eyes widened at the fact that Ryou had run to his soul room, but mostly at the fact that he had managed to make the paper and pencil with him.

"When did he learn to do that?" Bakura wondered aloud.

.

In his soul room, Ryou sits at a table not unlike the one in his actual room and continues writing with a smile on his face, Bakura forgotten.

* * *

"So... I've been wondering..."

Marik, who was sitting on his bed reading contently, looked over at Malik, who had decided to make himself appear at his desk.

"Hm?"

"What you did yesterday when you said you wanted the Pharaoh to kick my ass and send me back to the Shadow Realm..." He looked Marik in the eyes, not a single trace of sarcasm to be found. "...did you mean it?"

Marik laughed quietly and went back to reading. "Psh! 'Course not! I just wanted to distract someone so I could end the stupid contest."

Malik grinned. "For a hikari, you're awfully clever, even though it didn't work."

Marik smiled. "We're all smarter than you," he shot back sarcastically, but truthfully. "For a yami, you're not being such an ass today."

"I've decided to be...nice...to you today. Because I'm bored and I wanna see what it's like."

Marik rolled his eyes and went back to reading. "Well good for you..."

Malik looked at him, waiting for some other kind of reaction, but getting none. Marik was in one of those attitudes where nothing would change his mood. He would stay reading that book happily and wouldn't change unless someone or went too far. And Malik felt too lazy that day to try going too far just to get a reaction out of him. Too much work for no reason.

Then he noticed the Millenium Rod glow briefly. Too briefly for anyone not already looking straight in its direction to notice. It was on one of the night stands on either side of Marik's bed, just visible from behind Marik's leg from where Malik sat at the desk. Marik obviously hadn't noticed it because whenever he did notice something happen to the Rod he always immediately glanced at it. And his eyes never left the pages of his book.

He knew what that meant: a Millenium Item in the vicinity had just been used. And the only one anywhere near them was the Necklace so...

Malik floated out of Marik's room to Ishizu's room. She sat on her bed in the same spot she had sat on Marik's bed when she had her vision two days ago. As he entered, her eyes went from being glazed over to staring dismally at the floor.

"Not you... of all people..."

Malik, obviously, was curious. Nosy was a better word. He floated over to his sister to see if she would start talking aloud about whatever she just saw.

But she didn't. Instead she simply went over to her dresser and opened a top drawer. Then she reached under the drawer and took something out from the bottom. Malik looked under the drawer and saw that she had a pouch, big enough for the notebook now in her hands, stapled to the bottom of it.

"Pretty clever, sis," Malik said aloud, knowing she couldn't hear him. "Just like your brother... But less irritating."

She walked over to her desk and opened the book to a blank page.

He moved over to her and watched her write. She wrote the date and time it was at the exact moment Malik had seen the Rod flash.

His eyes slowly widened as her frown slowly deepened as she slowly wrote what she had seen.

Then at the end of the entry, she wrote, "It's these kinds of things that make me want to keep the Necklace off. But for their sake, I can't. I have to help in any way I can. Even if they don't want me to."

Then she stood up and walked to the other side of the room, taking off the Millenium Necklace on the way. She passed right through Malik.

She placed the Necklace on her dresser and sighed. She glanced over at the desk, almost looking Malik in the eyes. She walked back over and colsed the book, hid it back under her drawer, closed the drawer, then threw herself on her bed with an exasperated sigh.

"Why did you have to choose me, Nela?

Did...she really...just... Malik started laughing at her as he left her room. As he traveled back to Marik's room down the hall, he got an idea. He closed his eyes, please with how easy and brilliant it was.

"Ahem..."

Malik opened his eyes and saw Marik standing in front of him in the doorway, arms folded.

"Uh..." Malik said nervously. "Your book?"

"Chapter ended like ten seconds ago." Marik's face turned excited. "Oh my gosh! He said it! Jacob said it!"

Malik faked enthusiasm and replied, "Oh my gosh really?! Wow I've been waiting for that moment since three chapters ago!"

"Me too!"

"Guess what?!"

"What?"

Malik dropped his act and laughed as he passed Marik and entered his room. "I don't care."

"That's Bakura's line!"

"Guess what?" Malik decided that he wanted to sit on the bed and close his eyes like he didn't care. "I still don't care."

"Why were you bothering Ishizu? What happened?"

"I wasn't bothering her..."

"I saw you walk out her her room just now. I'm not stupid, Malik. What were you doing?"

_Should I..._ Malik asked himself._ No. It's none of his business. It has nothing to do with him anyway. Besides, it would just worry him and we're not supposed to be worrying about it today..._

"Nothing," he finally replied after a long pause, which Marik took note of.

"I don't believe you."

"It has nothing to do with you anyway."

"...Surprisingly, I believe you."

"Yeah so shut up."

"But why did you go in there in the first place?"

Malik opened one eye and looked at him. "Because shut up."

"Why do you keep stealing everyone's catchphrases?"

"I don't bloody know."

Marik rolled his eyes and put the book he had been reading away. "You're so childish sometimes, yami."

"Touché, hikari." He closed his eyes and went back to ignoring everything except for himself.

But only for a moment.

"By the way, Ishizu keepsajournalofallofhervisio nsinapouchunderhertopdresser drawer. Pretty interesting, right?"

"No, not really. I already knew that."

"Oh you did?"

"Mmhmm. Yeah I admit to sneaking into her room and snooping around. Actually Bakura convinced me to when he came over one day."

"I forget, was Ryou there?"

"No. I think you two were like sleeping in your soul rooms."

"Oh, right."

A long silence followed. If any mention of Yugi or Yami had been made, they would have started thinking about the Triangle again. Which they weren't supposed to let themselves do.

Malik already was.

* * *

Ishizu, alone in her room, still on her bed, and still staring at the ceiling, whispers to herself, "Malik, please don't tell them..."

* * *

**You just realized how much foreshadowing I've been stuffing into this and last chapter.**

**Also you lost the game.  
****Why?  
****Because shut the bloody hell up I don't care how superspscialawesome Brooklyn Rage is for friendship.**

**And so it continues!**

**Next chapter:  
PART 2: Chapter 3- The Switch; and A Prediction Revealed  
~The yamis are supposed to be in a meeting and _leaving the hikaris alone_. Someone didn't listen...  
One of the six predictions are explained.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	11. P2, C3: The Switch & The Yamis' Meeting

**We all knew that this was going to happen evantually. It was so obvious. But you'll probably still be surprised anyway!**

**Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik'. Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 3.**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 3  
**/\ The Switch /\ The Yami's Meeting /\

* * *

As planned, the next day, Yami Yugi, Yami Marik, and Yami Bakura announced to their hikaris that they were going to meet up with the other two.

The lights would be left alone and free to do whatever they wanted.

The darks seemed to have already decided where they were going to meet up, so the lights immediately went off on their own.

Marik decided to read another chapter of his book,  
Yugi went out on a little errand for himself that he needed to get out of the way,  
Ryou wanted to visit some place he hadn't been in a long time.

So Marik was at home, and Yugi and Ryou were out.

* * *

_~Out on the street...~_

All of a sudden, Yugi fell forward and landed on the ground unconscious.

Everything went dark.

~•~

He woke up in a void.

He tried to look at his surroundings, but found nothing to look at. He knew three things. One: Yami wasn't taking over their body. Yugi would be able to tell, and Yami never restricted or contained him when he did it. Not anymore, at least. Two: He wasn't in the Shadow Realm again. Thankfully. Three: Something had made him lose consciousness. But what?

He tried to call out to his yami, but got no response. He doubted the call was even successfully made. Remembering the Triangle, he tried to call out to Marik and Bakura. Nothing. He didn't even really know how to do that.

As a last resort, he tried to return to his body again and wake up. No luck.

It seemed like there was nothing he could do about it but wait.

~•~

A few minutes later, he felt something being lifted. Some hold on him was gone. He tried to take control of his body again.

It worked! He was back! Or was he?

Yugi took control of his body again. But...

He woke up on his back, sat up, and looked around. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud. He had somehow moved for where he was when he blacked out. But he was still on the same block at least.

"How did I...?" he trailed off as he realized that his voice was off. No... It was totally wrong. It sounded like his tone of voice, but it was someone else's. And he knew who's it was.

He looked down and saw, not his own clothes, but the clothes that Bakura usually wore! And it was Bakura's voice!

"Why am I in Bakura's body?!" he shouted.

Yugi (or was he Bakura?) suddenly took off down the street in a panic, trying to figure out what had happened.

Suddenly, he ran into someone at the corner. And to his surprise, it was himself.

"Yugi?" the person controling Yugi's body asked. Maybe it was Bakura! The tone of voice sounded right. And the eyes were brown, like Bakura's. Not purple, like his own. "Is that you?"

"It is! Bakura what happened to us?!" Their Millenium Items were still with their own bodies. So that had nothing to do with it. Did it?

"I think I know what happened here."

"What?"

Bakura, in Yugi's body, sighed in annoyance rather than in worry. "My yami switched us up."

"What?!" Yugi (Bakura) cried. "How is that possible?"

"That is what we're going to find out. Right now."

"How?"

"We are going to visit Marik."

* * *

"It's kind of weird to be looking at myself," Bakura told Yugi as they walked. "Obviously. You probably feel the same, right?"

"Actually, not really. Me and the Pharaoh look pretty much the same except for our face. So I'm looking at a slight variation of myself anyway. I'm used to it. However it is odd to not _be_ in my body. And your eyes are the same."

"What do you mean by that last part?"

"Well since it it my body, I'd expect my eyes to be the same too. But they're not. They're brown like yours. Like our eye color switched bodies with us."

"Hm. Now that you mention it, your eyes are your own too. They're purple, not brown."

"Could this be a clue?"

"I don't know. But it does remind me of what Marik said Ishizu saw in her vision about it being our eyes but someone else's eye color."

"I was just about to say the same thing. But I had thought that the eye colors changing was just a representation or metaphor of it. Didn't think our eyes would literally change color. But makes sense, what with how eyes are said to be 'windows to the soul'."

As they walked to Marik's place, they discussed possible explanations as to how this was possible and what they could do about it.

"So the same way that my yami had dozens, maybe even hundreds, of hosts before me who owned the Millenium Ring, he could get into another body by them simply wearing it. However we aren't in our Items the way he is and the items haven't changed bodies anyway so that can't be it. All I know for sure is that he did this."

"What about the way he and Marik shared your body in Battle City? When Malik took total control over his body? Could he have somehow transferred us that way?"

"No. We were too far away for that to happen. And there was nothing to transfer us because our items are still in the same place. Speaking of which..." Why hadn't Yami Yugi done or said something yet? He _must_ know or have sensed that this was going on, right? So where was he now? "Have you heard from the Pharaoh? I haven't."

"Oh... I didn't even think of that! Well... You have the Puzzle. And I'm the 'chosen one' to use its powers. Not you. So I assume I'm the only one who can interact with him that way. So maybe..."

Yugi (Bakura) removed the Millenium Ring from around his (Bakura's) neck and held it out. "Let's switch items and see what happens."

Bakura (Yugi) nodded and took off the Millenium Puzzle.

They traded Millenium items and put them around their necks.

Yugi (Bakura) waited a few moments to see what would happen. Nothing did. "I guess not..."

"Well I don't really know much about that stuff. Which is why it's good that we are going to see Marik."

"Why _are_ we going to see him anyway?"

"Well, it's obvious now that this is what Ishizu foresaw. I had figured that out already the moment I woke up in your body. Which means that there is only one thing that could have caused this."

"What?"

They were close now, so they didn't have time to talk much longer. But Bakura responded anyway.

"Triangular Hallway."

* * *

They reached Marik's front door.

Just as Yugi (Bakura) was about to knock, the door opened. Marik was there. He looked his two soulswapped friends straight in the eyes, no doubt noticing the change in eye color. But then he burst out laughing. He motioned them in and stepped aside, still laughing. Ishizu appeared to be gone for the moment.

They exchanged confused glances, then stepped inside. Marik closed the door behind them and sat down on the couch so he could continue laughing. Yugi (Bakura) looked at Bakura (Yugi) totally confused. Bakura's (Yugi's) face was slightly fearful, but knowing. Wait what?

"Yugi, I think that's-"

Marik finally began to stop laughing. "Oh... Oh my gosh this is so funny! I didn't think it would work but it did! This is just too funny! Oh my gosh... I'm sorry... Wait no, I'm not sorry."

"Marik. What's going on here?"

"Yugi," Marik said, pointing to Bakura's body, "and Ryou," he said, pointing to Yugi's body. "You two... Ha!"

"Marik, are you okay?" Yugi (Bakura) asked worriedly. "You don't seem yourself..." He looked into Marik's eyes. But they weren't Marik's. They were brown. And that voice... It was Marik's but the tone and attitude was all wrong.

"What did you do?!" Bakura (Yugi) suddenly shouted. "Fix this!"

Now he got it! It wasn't Marik. It was the other Bakura! "Yami Bakura!" Yugi (Bakura) exclaimed.

Marik- rather Yami Bakura- smirked that signature smirk of his. "Glad to see you two caught on."

"Why would you do this? And how? And how are you controlling Marik?"

Yami Bakura (Marik) laughed again. "I think my laughter answers your first question. Because it's absolutely hilarious. Your second and third questions..." He smiled. "All I can say is to check in the hall." Then his eyes glazed over and his body went limp. He fell sideways on the couch.

"No!" Bakura (Yugi) cried. He ran over to... Marik?

Yes! Marik!

Marik picked up his head and looked around. His eyes were purple again. "Marik!" Yugi shouted. "Are you okay?"

"Yes... But..." His face went angry. "I'm going to kill Bakura! Anyone know how to kill an ancient spirit that refuses to die?"

"So you know he took over your body then?" Bakura (Yugi) asked.

"I do, Yugi..." Marik looked into Bakura's (Yugi's) eyes. Then he looked closer. "Wait a minute... Ryou? Is that you? And...?" He looked over at Yugi (Bakura) and looked at the eyes. "Yugi? He..." He facepalmed and sighed. "Let me guess, he switched you two up?"

They nodded.

"I think I know how..." Ryou said. "Let's go now."

"Where to, Bakura?" Yugi (Bakura) asked.

"To the Triangle."

"What? Why the Triangle?"

"Remember what I said before about..."

"Wait a minute guys... He said check the hall. Maybe he meant the Triangular Hallway?"

That made sense! If it had happened to all three of them, then maybe it had something to do with the Hallway.

"It's just like what Ishizu told me," Marik said. "About the six of us with our eyes the color of one of the other five's. Makes sense now..."

"Yugi and I were thinking the same thing on the way here," Bakura (Yugi) said.

"So what are we waiting for?" Yugi asked. "Let's go!"

They all closed their eyes, held hands for some reason, and concentrated on their soul rooms.

A few moments later, they opened their eyes and stated at nothing. Their eyes had returned to the colors they should be, but they were empty and blank, meaning they were now in their soul rooms.

Or were they?

* * *

Yugi, Ryou, and Marik woke up somewhere in the Triangle.

Marik found himself lying face down in his and Malik's soul room, on his side of the room. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone. The second thing he noticed was that the other person in the room wasn't Malik...

~•~

Meanwhile, Yugi and Ryou also woke up face down in the floor. They rolled onto their backs, then sat up and looked around.

But neither of them immediately recognized their surroundings. They weren't in their own soul rooms like they expected to be.

After a few more moments of examining their respective rooms, Yugi and Ryou finally realized where they were:

Yugi was in Ryou's soul room, and Ryou was in Yugi's soul room!

They looked around wildly and confusedly for a few more seconds before standing up and running out of the room. They ran straight for their own hallway, where they assumed the other light was.

They bumped into each other right at the barrier.

Both boys fell back. They rubbed their heads where they had bumped, and knew who they had bumped into. Yugi recovered first and stood up and crossed the barrier. As soon as he did, he saw Ryou sitting there. "You okay, Bakura?"

"I'm fine," he answered. He laughed a bit. "Terrible timing, huh?"

Yugi laughed as well and held out a hand to help him up. "Yeah. I know, right? Sorry about that."

"Oh it's alright. I'm fine. So did you wake up in my soul room?"

"I did. Did you wake up in mine?"

"I did. That must be how he made us switch bodies."

Ryou put a hand on his chin. "But I still wonder how that caused us to switch. Technically, we still should have taken over our own bodies regardless of where we are in the Triangle. I've gone back to my body from Marik's hallway once before."

"Hm... Maybe our souls got confused? I remember blacking out and I felt like someone moved me. Maybe that was the other Bakura switching the rooms we were in. So when we were able to gain consciousness, we accidentally took control of the body whose soul room we were in, which is what we do automatically in our own soul hallways."

"I think your right, Yugi. So then what happened to Marik?"

Yugi gasped. "He must be in Marik's room then! And took control of him from there! Let's go!"

"Of course!"

Since they were on that side of the barrier, it was faster to just go through the Bakuras' hallway. They both crossed the barrier and ran to Marik's hallway.

~•~

Back in Marik/Malik's soul room, Marik stood up and faced the unwanted guest.

"Bakura..." Marik said, his arms folded. "What are you doing in here?! And what did you do to Ryou and Yugi?!"

Bakura just laughed. "Just having a little fun, that's all. A bit of harmless fun. It's not like it's permanent. And I told them where the cause of it could be found so they're probably fixing it right now. And since you're here, I assume that they are as well."

"They are. But... How...?"

"I just switched the rooms they were in. I put Yugi in Ryou's soul room and I put Ryou in Yugi's soul room. You know what would be interesting to see? Something like this happen while one of them is playing a Shadow Game. I wonder how that would turn out..."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Don't worry! I wouldn't do it myself. All I said was that it would be interesting to see happen. Never said I would be the one to do it. Wait untill I tell them that it really worked..."

Marik's angry expression faded away into one of confusion. "Wait a minute... Tell who? Yami and Malik?"

"Exactly. You know they're having a meeting over in the Pharaoh's soul room. I excused myself for a moment to try this."

"So wait... They know about this?! Why would they let you do this?!"

"Don't worry about it." Bakura moved closer to Marik and put an arm around his shoulder, then started leading him out of the room. "I'll explain it to you when Yugi and Ryou get here." Marik eyed the hand drapped over his shoulder uncertainly, but left it there. "They should be here soon." They stepped out into the hallway and Bakura led them to the wall opposite the door. He leaned them against it. "They should be here right about...now."

As soon as he said 'now' Yugi and Ryou crossed the barrier between the Mariks and the Bakuras' hallways.

~•~

Yugi and Ryou saw Bakura standing against the wall with his arm around Marik. Bakura waved.

"Bakura!" "Yami!" Yugi and Ryou shouted at the same time.

"Hello there," Bakura greeted back.

Marik walked away from Bakura and over to Ryou and Yugi. "Hey guys," he said. "You two figure it out?"

"Yeah," Yugi said. "He switched the rooms that we were in so that we accidentally took over the wrong body when we woke up. What about you?"

"Oh just wait untill you hear what he told me! He said it would be interesting to see something like that happen while one of you was playing a Shadow Game!"

Both of them gasped and glared at Bakura.

"Again!" Bakura shouted, "I never said I would be the one to make it happen. I'd just like to be there to see it, if and when it does happen. Calm down."

"Hm..." Marik also glared at him before turning to the other two and continuing. "He also said that he excused himself from the meeting with Yami and Malik to do this, and that it was a test or something like that."

"Kinda my job," Bakura interrupted. The three hikaris turned to him. "Since I know more about this, I'm supposed to be finding out what kinds of things this situation would result in." He started pretending to examine his fingernails innocently. "So I took it a step further and starting doing little test so see what I could make happen and how far I could go. But don't worry about your privacy. I kept my word and stayed out of your personal stuff." Then he mumbled too low for them to hear, "But that doesn't mean I won't start being nosy eventually."

"So now what?" Yugi asked. "Are you going to tell them about it? I'm pretty sure they won't approve of you doing this to us."

"Won't they? Think about it. There was no harm done, and it was easily reversible. And they told me do find out about stuff like this anyway. So now we know. Imagine if you had accidentally done this and no one knew what was going on. Now, that mistake will be avoided. So I don't think they would have a problem with this. So if we're done here..."

Bakura turned away and started walking towards Yugi and Yami's soul hallway. Just before he crossed the barrier, he turned his head to look at the three hikaris behind him and said, "Follow me."

Then he disappeared to the other hallway.

Yugi, Ryou, and Marik all exchanged glances, then shrugged and followed Bakura.

* * *

They met Bakura outside of the open door to Yami's soul room. He motioned for them to follow, and led them around a few corners. Their footsteps echoed throughout the room. They heard voices, but those voices quieted as they drew nearer. After rounding one last corner, they saw Yami and Malik sitting there on a random brick platform sticking out from the wall. Across from them was another random brick platform sticking up from the floor. Bakura walked over to the floor platform. Yami and Malik stood up when they noticed that their hikaris had entered with him.

"What are you three doing here?" Yami asked them.

"Bakura told us to follow," Marik answered.

Ryou looked between Marik and Malik. "Uh... Marik?"

"Yeah?"

"This is just a random question but uh... I've always wondered something. With me and Bakura and with Yugi and the Pharaoh, our clothes always match what the other one is wearing. But you and Malik are always wearing different outfits. Why is that?"

Malik answered him. "We learned how to do that long ago. I didn't want to deal with being seen in those stupid skimpy outfits he always wears."

"Hey!" Marik shouted defensively. "I do _not_ dress in 'stupid skimpy outfits'! And besides, I'm dressed just fine right now!" At the moment, he was wearing a simply navy blue T-shirt and black jeans. "And I don't really like that stupid cape thing you wear."

Malik narrowed his eyes. "It's not stupid!"

"I agree," Yami commented. "I believe I used to wear a cape. All Pharaohs did. And it absolutely did _not_ look stupid."

"Ladies, please!" Bakura said with his arms outstretched towards Marik, Yami, and Malik. "Now is not the time to argue about how fashionable we all look. You all look absolutely stunning today." The three of them glared at him for calling them 'ladies'. (Marik blushed a bit for some reason.) "But there are more important things to talk about." He turned to Yami and Malik. All three of them sat down. "So what have you two been up to while I was gone?"

"Well..." Yami said. "As you know, we were arguing about something totally ridiculous...again... But when you excused yourself we remembered why we were really here and started talking about more important things. However, we didn't really get much done because we ended up simply reviewing what we already knew. Now why did you bring Yugi and the others in here?"

Malik and Bakura seemed to suddenly remember that Ryou and Yugi were also there. "Oh right, them." The three hikaris walked over and sat on the floor next to their yamis. "You know how you told me to find out about certain phenomenon that might result from this Triangular Hallway? Well I was out doing a little experiment..."

"And they were the test subjects?"

"In a way..."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing serious. I just found-"

Yugi interrupted. "He made me and Ryou switch bodies!"

"What?!" Yami gasped.

"Don't interrupt me!" Bakura shouted at him. "Why is everyone interrupting me?"

"Because no one likes you," Malik replied.

Bakura chose to ignore his comment. "As I was saying, I found out that it was possible to do a bit of soul switching. I made it so that Yugi was in Ryou's body and Ryou was in Yugi's body. And then I made sure it worked by taking control of Marik's body when they stopped by to ask him about it."

"You did what?!" Malik cried.

"How?" Yami asked.

"Simple, I put Yugi in Ryou's soul room and Ryou in Yugi's soul room. And to take control of Marik, I just went in his soul room."

"What!?" Yami cried again. "How did you manage to switch them without me knowing or sensing that something had happened to Yugi?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you were simply not paying enough attention. Or maybe because I'm sneakier thank you think."

"Hm..."

"You stupid cream puff! Why would you go inside our soul room without permission?"

Bakura scoffed at that. "Are you serious? I go wherever the hell I want without permission. I'm a thief, remember?"

"Hmph... Well since you were doing something productive in there I guess I can let it go this one time. But you'd better not be in there without permission again or I will beat the crap out of you."

"Threat noted," Bakura said. But it didn't really look like he took it seriously. After all, he and Malik were evenly matched for the most part. Bakura had his agility and Malik had his strength. "But anyway the point is this: if one of us were to return back to the real world from someone else's soul room, we could end up taking control of their body."

Ryou suddenly spoke up. "Which means that it is now more crucial than ever to get this whole security thing under control."

Turning to him, Bakura said, "Exactly. Which is why I used you three for this. So you could get more involved. Because now we can all see that it's not just everyone's personal stuff at risk here; our very souls are compromised by this situation as well. And although this little experiment was harmless enough, who knows what could happen from here on out. So all of us need to work together to keep the peace and safety and find a solution to this as soon as possible."

Yami tried to hold back a laugh, but was only partially successful.

"What are you laughing at, Pharaoh?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that I don't think I've ever heard you say something so wise and reasonable before."

Bakura grinned at that. "Well I guess I'm not as heartless and selfish as you think."

"Yes... Now..." Yami turned his attention to the hikaris. "The three of you can go back to whatever you were doing before this incident happened. I assure you the three of us will be fine. For once."

"Okay then." Yugi said. "But..." His face turned confused and he turned to Ryou. "Ryou... What were we doing before this happened?"

Ryou's face also turned confused as he tried to remember. "Well, I know we were walking down two different streets on the same block but... I don't remember where I was going."

"Neither do I..."

"Yugi..." Yami said, "didn't you tell me where you were going just before you left me earlier today?"

Yugi nodded. "I remember that. I just don't remember where I was going."

"Oh no... Bakura!"

"What?!"

Yami crossed his arms and glared at the spirit. "So your little experiment was harmless enough?"

"Oops!" Bakura said with a shrug. "Well I can't do anything about it now. I have no idea how soul swapping has anything to do with short-term memory loss, but whatever. Let's just hope it's temporary."

"Me too," Ryou said as he glared at his yami.

"Wait, Marik..." Malik said. "What about you? Do you remember what you were doing before?"

"Not sure. I wasn't really doing much of anything. I think I was just reading or something."

"But at least now we know," Bakura broke in, "and won't do this accidentally. So everything should be fine."

"Except for my memory..." Ryou said quietly.

"Oh just shut up and go already!"

Ryou stood up. "Fine! I will! Marik, Yugi, let's go." He walked away.

"Wait! Ryou!" Marik stood up as well and ran after him.

Yugi did the same, but waved good-bye to the yamis before rounding the corner.

"Wait up, you two! I know the way better than you do!"

* * *

Yugi led Marik and Ryou lights through the maze of twists and turns that was the Pharaoh's soul room, back to the entrance to the hallway.

Along the way, Ryou started a conversation with Yugi.

"Yugi, since when did you start calling me 'Ryou'?" he asked. "It seems like one minute you were calling me Bakura and the next minute you aren't. Why the switch?"

"Oh I don't know. I just feel like I've gotten closer to you lately. And besides, you were right. It _is_ getting too complicated to call both of you 'Bakura'. But I still don't like how he stole your name."

"He didn't steal it," Ryou insisted. "He's right, you know. He did have the name first and I just happened to have it for a last name millenia later. It's a coincidence that is still very unnerving to me..."

"And he did have a point yesterday. It's weird how me and Yami look so much alike, not just our hair."

"Like Bakura once said to me about you four:" Marik jumped in, "reincarnation is a bitch."

Yugi and Ryou looked at Marik funny, both of them raising an eyebrow at his comment.

"But I'm not Bakura's reincarnation," Ryou informed him. "I'm more of a reincarnation of who he used to be, the reason why Malik calls him 'Touzoku'. He's... changed from being the Thief King to being Yami Bakura over the years. I'm not him, I'm who he was."

A long and awkward silence followed as all three boys thought about this idea of being reborn from thousands of years ago. They all halted, having reached the door to Yugi and Yami's soul hallway.

"So I guess that tomorrow is our turn," Ryou said to change the subject. "The yamis are meeting in the Pharaoh's soul room, so does that mean we should meet in Yugi's soul room?"

"My room is a bit... messy," Yugi admitted with a slight blush from embarrassment. "And it represents my mind so if I tried to clean it up it would just go back to the way it was. I know Ryou is a neat and organized person, so we could use his."

"No way! Not a chance!" Ryou immediately exclaimed.

"Why not?" Marik asked.

"Why does it have to be me? Besides, it really doesn't matter where we meet. I think Yami did it in his room because it probably has more space, and he's not as secretive and untrusting as the other two are. He was more willing. But I..." He suddenly looked slightly uneasy.

"What? You don't trust us?" Marik asked with a bit of hurt in his voice.

"No that isn't it at all! I _do_ trust you two. I just don't really...erm... I'm not quite sure how to explain it though..."

"It's fine, Ryou," Yugi said to him. "I wouldn't want to force you to let us in, and Malik probably wouldn't be too keen on letting us use his and Marik's room even thought it's only half his, so we can just meet up in my soul room. I wouldn't mind. I'll fix up my mind somehow. And it usually takes time to become a mess again so it should be fine. The only reason I suggested yours is because well..." He rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I...kinda wanted to see how your soul room is. I haven't really seen it before and I...kinda want to get to know it. You're so distant sometimes..."

Ryou involuntarily took a step backwards. "You...No..." He was a bit way of the fact that Yugi wanted to meet there so he could have a look around. Ryou knew that Yugi was a good person with only good intentions but still... It was hard not to feel a bit...Again, he couldn't exactly find the word for it. "But you saw it before when we came in here. Remember? Bakura switched us?"

"Well I was too worried about us to really register anything. I don't really remember what it looked like, just that it wasn't my soul room."

"Well... Just don't go in there without asking me, okay?"

"Fine. I won't," Yugi promised.

"Neither will I," Marik agreed.

Ryou smiled. His uneasiness faded away. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. I'm not like Bakura, but sometimes I can get just as...oh I don't know, defensive and secretive, I guess?...of my personal stuff as him."

"It's alright."  
"We don't mind."

Yugi turned to the open door. "We should probably be getting out of here now," he said to Ryou and Marik.

The two hikaris nodded and followed him out.

* * *

They decided to go back to the world outside their minds to finish whatever conversation they felt like having.

To avoid a repeat of what Bakura had made happen, they all returned to their soul rooms first before trying to get back to their bodies. They closed their doors behind them and concentrated on their bodies.

And they were back to reality.

And just in time, too.

"Marik! Wake up!"

Ishizu looked like she had just walked in. The door was still open and she was shaking Marik's shoulders.

The three of them, while no one was controlling their bodies, had fallen on the floor.

Marik was lucky; he was propped up against the couch.

They all blinked in surprise. Yugi and Ryou sat up.

"Ishizu, I'm fine!" Marik shouted. He put his hands on her shoulders and steadied her.

Ishizu sighed in relief and put a hand over her heart. "Well that's a relief." She sat down on the couch next to where Marik sat on the floor. "I was worried something had happened."

"Something _did_ happen," Marik said sarcastically. "Bakura happened."

"What!? What did Bakura do to you?"

"Don't worry, Ishizu," Yugi said. "We're fine."

"Let me guess, it had to do with the Triangle?"

The four of them fell silent. No one wanted to answer her. But _someone_ had to speak up.

"Sis..." Marik said hesitantly. "Could you please... just... stay out of our business about the Triangle? Please? We don't want any one else knowing about or trying to deal with this. The six of us can handle it. We're fine. Really."

Ishizu looked between the three lights uncertainly. But at last she closed her eyes, sighed again, and replied, "Fine. It's not going to stop me from worrying, but I will stay out of it. Just be careful and... Just be careful. I've had enough soul issues with you and Malik from Battle City and I don't want to have to deal with that again with four other people added to the problem. You four just take care of yourselves, okay?" With her eyes closed, she didn't see the effect her words had on them, and didn't notice the shocked expressions on their faces.

They hadn't realized how much Battle City had affected her and how heavily the problems with Marik and Malik weighed on her heart.

Just before she stood up and left, Marik put a hand on her shoulder as said to her, "Don't trouble yourself with this. Leave it to us."

She nodded and headed for her room, her eyes still closed.

* * *

"Am I the only one who noticed that she wasn't wearing the Millenium Necklace?" Ryou asked.

"Nope," Yugi replied. "I noticed it as well. Marik?"

"Nothing unusual," Marik explained. "She hasn't worn it since yesterday afternoon. Again, nothing unusual. Actually... I think she took it off so that she wouldn't keep having visions about the Triangle. Maybe she planned to stay out of it before I asked her just now."

"How would you know that?"

"Malik was bored yesterday so he decided to spy on her."

"What did he-" Yugi put a hand over his mouth. "Right...none of my business... Sorry."

Ryou frowned at him.

"It's fine," Marik insisted. "Didn't get a chance to say this before, but I'm glad to be back in my own body."

"Me, too."

"Same here. Not that yours wasn't nice and all, but I like mine better."

"Bakura...total bitch to us sometimes."

"Funny," Ryou said with a small grin. "That's what he says about you sometimes."

"Wha?"

"I remember him saying one day, and I quote: 'Marik needs to stop acting so bitchy all the freaking time.'"

"Oh I know. He said that to my face once."

"I still don't understand how you two are still friends. He's still evil, you know."

"He's not evil. Just an ass."

"True."

"Sorry that he treats you so badly."

"Don't worry about me. I've gotten used to it by now."

"Hm..."

Yugi had moved to the couch and sat there awkwardly, listening to them talking about Bakura who he didn't know as well. Ryou had taken a seat on the floor. Marik still sat on the floor in the same spot he had woken up in. There was probably more to the ancient spirit that Ryou and Marik knew and he didn't. Just like how Marik, despite his heritage, didn't know the Pharaoh the way he and Ryou did, and how Ryou didn't really know Malik the way he and Marik did.

_Whoa..._ Yugi thought as he processed all of that. _This triangle just got a whole lot more complicated._

"Yugi?" someone called to him. "You okay? You're kinda spacing out there."

It was most likely Marik who had spoken. They were both looking at him. "Oh what? Oh, sorry. I was just...thinking about...the Triangle. Our meeting tomorrow."

"What about it?" Ryou asked.

"Maybe..." He _hadn't_ just been thinking about the Triangle or the meeting, so he actually had to think of something. "...we shouldn't meet right away! Yeah...! We should just keep to ourselves for a while and think about this separately and then later on in the day we meet up to discuss our theories."

Ryou and Marik nodded in agreement. Seemed reasonable. "Sure." "Okay." "Alright, then."

"Anyway..." Marik looked around, trying to find some indication of what he had been doing before Bakura had come in and screwed with everyone's minds. "When you guys remember what you were doing before Bakura came in and screwed with everyone's minds, you can go do it. Until then, you two are free to stay."

"Actually, Marik..." Ryou started to say just before he yawned. "I think I'm going to go home and just rest. I'm tired. Whatever I was doing I'll remember it eventually. I'll do it when I remember." He started walking towards the door and waved at Yugi and Marik. "Bye guys. Tell Ishizu I said bye to her, too."

"Bye, Ryou," Yugi and Marik said to him as they waved back.

Ryou stepped outside and closed the door gently behind him.

~•~

"Is it just me or is Ryou starting to...distance himself?" Marik asked the moment the door closed. "Not just from us, I mean, but in general. There just seems to be something different about the way he's acting especially about his and Bakura's soul room. And he's actually starting to defend the stuff Bakura says which is really weird because usually they never agree on anything. But still... He just seems like he might start shying away from us if..."

"Marik?" Yugi said to break him out of his rant.

"Yeah?"

"Stop that. Calm down. Ryou is fine. I know he is."

"Yeah... why _are_ you suddenly calling him 'Ryou'? I clearly remember you calling him 'Bakura' before we visited our soul rooms."

"Like I said, I feel closer to him now. This is obviously going to be the norm for a while, so right now the three of us are too close for me to call them both 'Bakura'. And I like his first name better. It's nicer."

"Yeah..."

"But anyway..." Yugi stood up. "I think I'll be going as well. I'm not sure if I told grandpa where I was going or if I should have been back by now. I'll see you tomorrow, Marik."

"Bye, Yugi."

Yugi walked over to the door as well and walked out. He and Marik waved each other good-bye just before Yugi closed the door behind him.

Marik got off of the couch so he could lock the door, then retreated into his room for the rest of the day until Malik or Ishizu decided to bother him.

~•~

Yugi didn't really leave. Instead, he simply leaned against the wall next to the door and slid down into a sitting position.

"Looks like you had the same idea."

Yugi turned to his right. Ryou sat there, on the other side of the door frame, in the same position as Yugi.

"I thought you were tired," Yugi said to him.

"I am. I almost want to go back in there and ask my yami to walk home for me. Of course, he wouldn't do it because he's busy and he wouldn't want to anyway. He's like that."

"Of course he is..."

After a few seconds, they decided to get up and finally start heading home.

They walked together for most of the way until they had to go in different directions. They stayed silent the entire way and waved good-bye to each other silently.

* * *

**Omg reading fanfics with Marik and Malik as two characters in them is starting to get to my brain... I accidentally typed "Malik" instead of "Marik" a few times. In my stories if I ever use the name 'Malik', I use it for Hikari Marik, not Yami Marik. It doesn't make sense why they renamed Marik and gave his yami his name. That would be like calling Ryou 'Bakura' and calling Yami Bakura 'Ryou'. Why rename the hikari? We renamed Yugi's yami.  
Oh well. I'll get used to it.  
So will all of you. Even the ones who call the hikari 'Malik'.  
Trust me.  
Also, I tried to type in the word 'just', and I typed in 'Yugi' instead...FTW?**

**Unlike most of my stories, I'm actually enjoying writing this and I'm not struggling to come up with the next chapter. This is just as much for my enjoyment as it is for yours. Thanks to everyone who has stayed with me so far and thanks to all the newcomers who plan to stay with me.**

**Next chapter:  
PART 2: Chapter 4- The Light's Turn  
~The hikaris think about their part of dealing with the Triangle, and come up with some good ideas. We also explore everyone's soul rooms a bit...**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	12. P2, C4A: Soul Rooms and Solutions

**Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik' (probably should be obvious by now). Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 4, part A.  
I think I will split it into 2 parts to save space. We'll see how it goes. Because this particular chapter will be VERY long. I changed the chapter title because I split it.**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Part A  
**/\ Soul Rooms and Solutions /\

* * *

As they had said yesterday, Ryou, Marik, and Yugi didn't meet up right away the next day. They spent some time to themselves for the first half of the day and would meet up in the second half of the day. First in real life for lunch, then in Yugi's soul room for to talk about the Triangle.

So all of them were in the Triangle, thinking about things.

* * *

"Hey, Yami! Look what I found!"

"What is it Yugi?"

The two were hanging around Yami's soul room, searching for answers of some sort to help the hikaris out. But Yugi had found something _much_ more interesting...

"Come here!"

Yugi's voice echoed from somewhere in the room. And as far as he could tell, he was in the same room, not through one its the countless doors.

"Where are you?" Yami called out.

"Here! Use the puzzle again!"

Although Yugi couldn't see it, he nodded. He activated his Millenium Puzzle. It glowed very faintly.

He started walking. As he traveled closer to Yugi, the puzzle glowed brighter and brighter. He used this as a guide until it was glowing at its maximum brightness. He rounded a corner and there he was.

"Hey there," Yugi greeted. Both Puzzles glows faded. "Look what I found!" He pointed behind him.

"What?" Yami asked, uninterested. Yugi was standing in front of a door, one of thousands in Yami's soul room. "It's just another door."

"That's what it looks like! But look here..." Yugi opened the door and stepped inside. Yami followed.

"Why does this room feel less...ancient...than the rest of my soul room?" Yami wondered aloud as he looked around.

"That's what I wondered as well. Look around!" Yugi had opened all of the room's inner doors beforehand. The room was a lot smaller than most of the door-behind-doors rooms and bigger than the single rooms (the ones without more doors behind them). There were six different doors, two on each of the walls other than the one the entrance door was on. The floor and walls weren't the same color as the rest of his soul room. Instead of being yellow and brown, they looked more...modern. In fact, they looked like the walls and flooring of Yugi's bedroom!

Inscribed above each door was a little picture. There was one that looked like the back of a Duel Monsters card, one that looked like a pyramid, a random black blob, a heart, the eye symbol that was on all the Millenium Items, and an unmarked door. The door with a pyramid was closed.

Yugi noticed Yami looking at that door. "I couldn't open that one for some reason," he explained. "But I have a feeling that I know what this room is."

"My past may be a mystery, but I still remember the present..."

"Exactly! This room must have been created when I first solved the Millenium Puzzle. You probably already had a soul room, like everyone does, but not with this room. Go ahead and look."

Yami walked to the center of the room. All of the doors opened inwards. Straight ahead were the doors with the blob and eye, to his left were the heart and pyramid, and to his right were the unmarked and card doors. He looked into each one from where he stood. In the one with the heart, he could see flashes of images of some of his and Yugi's friends. Téa, for example. In the one with the eye symbol, he could see images of the Millenium Items and small pieces of what he had learned about his past and Ancient Egypt. In the one with the blob, he saw only darkness. But when he took a closer look, he saw portions of darkness that could very well have been taken straight out of the Shadow Realm, and he could have sworn he could see the vague silhouettes of people. In the one with the card back, he saw all that he knew of Duel Monsters, and games and dueling in general. And the one unlabeled...

"I actually went in there before I called you over," Yugi said, following his gaze. "There's nothing in there at all. Just an empty room."

But the room didn't look empty. But he didn't tell Yugi that. Whatever the reason for Yugi being unable to see the room's contents, it was probably a good reason and he would question the fact. He walked towards the door. He stood in the doorway and tried his best to pretend like he was looking around for some hidden or invisible secret that he couldn't see.

But he _could_ see.

His eyes widened at what was inside. He instantly knew why Yugi couldn't see inside. And he knew that Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik also would not be able to see what was inside. In fact, no one except for him ever would.

He stood there, mouth and eyes wide opened, for a minute or two.

Yugi noticed his silence, and started to wonder if the room really was empty or if whatever was inside was simply invisible to him, but not Yami.

"Um... Are you okay?"

Yami quickly composed himself and turned around. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just concentrating to see of maybe only I can reveal what's in there. But as you said, it's empty."

"Well why would it be?" Yugi questioned. "If this room here is about the present, and you remember everything from the time I solved the puzzle, then why would a room be empty?"

Yami laughed. "You question my mind yet again? Yugi, you should know by now that I don't know everything about my soul room, and probably never will. Now about that pyramid door..."

He left the doorway and walked over to the door with a pyramid above it. As he walked away, the door closed itself behind him.

"I assume you did that?" Yugi asked.

"I did. My mind, remember? Now about this door..." He stared at it. Then he walked over to it and turned the knob. It didn't open. The knob turned but the door wouldn't swing open, whether he pushed or pulled. "It's stuck..." he told Yugi.

"Exactly."

_But I have one or two hunches about what's behind it... And if Yugi can't open it..._

"So," Yugi said cheerfully, "now there's a part of your mind that we can actually understand. There aren't really any mysteries here. Except for the memories themselves and those two rooms..." He pointed to the pyramid and unmarked doors. "...but despite that I think it's great that you have a whole section about the present."

Yami turned away from the door and smiled. "I agree." Then he turned back to the door and his smile faded a bit. "Do you mind leaving me alone here for a while?"

"Sure," Yugi replied, the smile not leaving his face. "No problem." He left the room and closed the door behind him partially. Then his smile faded a bit as well. "I wonder..." he whispered to himself. "Those two rooms... He acted a bit strange about them. Almost like he knows what's inside. Maybe he _can_ see something, and I can't. But why?"

He shook his head and walked away, taking one last glance at the door before he rounded the corner.

He made his way back to the main room, which he and Yami always somehow knew how to get back to. He walked out the door and into their hallway.

Yugi looked back and forth between the ends of the hallway.

Then, instead of going back to his body, he decided to hang out in his soul room for a while. He wanted to think a bit about the Triangle situation some more. And maybe do a puzzle or two.

He walked in and went over to his shelf of puzzles.

Usually there were toys and games all over the floor, but recently he had cleaned up in there. For the meeting. Of course, as he had explained to Marik and Ryou, the mess usually re-did itself a bit. But at the moment it was (relatively) neat. He had all of the puzzles in one corner, in a bookshelf, all of the games in another corner, and the toys in another corner. On the top shelf of the bookcase in each corner were various items that represented his memories and life. For example, one of the games had pawns that looked like his friends instead of how the pawns would look in real life. And one of the jigsaw puzzles was a picture of the box that once held the disassembled pieces of the Millenium Puzzle.

He took one of his blank jigsaw puzzles, which he solved when he was thinking about something and didn't want to be distracted by an image or when he wanted a challenge.

He opened the box and took it to a table in the room, the dumped all of the pieces on it. All of the pieces, anywhere from 50 to 100 of them, were the same shade of white, with no markings at all. It was different every single time he did it because the number of pieces and the shape of the pieces changed just as often as the size of the mess in the room did. He only had one puzzle like this in his soul room, and he had one like it in his bedroom.

After a minute of trying to solve it, his mind wandered off. He started thinking about several things at once: the room he had found a several minutes ago, the Triangular Hallway, the temple-volcano trip, and Ryou and Marik. All of it was just so confusing. And it was hard to believe that all of this happened simply because the Millenium Items were accidentally melted together a bit. He lifted the golden pendant around his neck up to his face with one hand, while the other continued to do the blank jigsaw puzzle. He looked at the places where the little grains and dents of melted gold were. _All because of a volcano..._ he thought. _How can the surfaces of items so ancient and magical and powerful be altered and tampered with by something so ordinary and common (by comparison) as heat and lava? It just doesn't seem right... Of course, there is the fact that whatever temple of whatever civilization the three yamis went to probably had some kind of magical and mystical force that had an effect on the Items. Interesting how this kind of stuff always happens to me. And Ryou and Marik as well. But that's no surprise. It's never been a surprise, only ever a slight annoyance. But at least I never have to worry about dragging them into this kind of stuff because they are already involved in it. Not like with Téa, Joey, and Tristan..._

He suddenly realized that the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were no longer on the table. Instead, they were floating in front of the table in midair, some parts partially solved.

He had discovered a while ago that he could make stuff float around. He used this power to do puzzles when there wasn't enough room on the table or when he had a lot of pieces and didn't want to deal with picking them up as he moved them. And sometimes he did it just for fun.

But he had never solved the blank puzzle using this ability. The puzzle was half solved. About 50% of the pieces were alone without others attached to them. The outside edge was completed, and there were a few groups of pieces pieced together here and there. It looked exactly how it would if someone was solving a puzzle on a table, only it was in the air.

And...!

There had never been an image on the pieces before! He had taken the blank puzzle's box off of the top shelf...

Usually, the box was black and the pieces were white. He looked at the box and saw that it was still black. But the pieces now were colored! Most of them anyway. The few pieces that were still blank floated among the unjoined pieces lying outside of the completed frame. The rest...

It was like a blended mosaic. The different scenes blended into each other. The first thing he noticed was that one portion looked like the room in Yami's soul room that they had just discovered. It blended into two other scenes along the right and bottom of the scene, into a bubbly red liquid on the right, and into what looked like sand on the bottom. One completed cluster of pieces had Ryou and Marik's faces on it, with the pieces making up their eyes still lying outside the frame. To Ryou's right the hair of another person Yugi assumed would be the other Bakura was visible, and to Marik's left was probably Malik. A chain that looked like the one the Millenium Puzzle hung from went diagonally across several pieces and clusters, in the same direction across all of them, and could be seen going off the upper right and lower left corners of the frame. The Millenium Puzzle, scaled smaller than the chain, hung from one of the links, and the Millenium Ring and Rod hung from two other links. Farther away from the three items on the chain hung the other four items in some way.

Several surprising and interesting things Yugi realized here.  
One, he had been solving the puzzle in midair while thinking about something else completely different,  
Two, the normally blank puzzle had changed, which was surprising in itself.  
But not as surprising as three, that the images and scenes on the jigsaw puzzle had reflected his train of thought.  
And four, which wasn't as significant to him, he had been solving this puzzle without looking when it was at its maximum piece count (100) and it was half done even though he had only been at it for probably about three minutes when it usually took him about ten minutes to get it even half done at 100 pieces.

So many new things had been discovered lately...

* * *

_~Meanwhile~_

* * *

Bakura had "locked" (without an actual physical lock or key) himself in his soul room. Even Yami Bakura couldn't get in, despite having the "key" to enter. Not that he wanted to at the moment. Still, it was a bit strange, and it caught his attention.

Yami Bakura materialized inside of their soul hallway for a moment and stared at the closed door. He wondered for a moment what his little hikari was doing in there, then returned to whatever he was doing in their body.

Bakura gazed around his soul room. It was a beautiful, yet somehow sad, mosaic. The background of the walls was made up all of the different countries he had visited or lived in. The biggest sections were of England and Japan, where he was born and where he lived now. The England section was always the biggest. In each of the four corners of the room, independent to the background on the wall, was something specific about him. One corner looked a bit like Yugi's soul room, for it had several toys and games piled up in the floor, in a chest, and on a table. Another corner had lots of books and other academic things, and things of the arts. The rest of the room reflected his state of mind and his past. That part was always in the back of the room, and the place where the fog was thickest and darkest. The whole room was shrouded in a very thin and transparent, but nonetheless noticeable, layer of fog (or mist, depending on his mood or state of mind). It wasn't darkness, like what could be found in his yami's room. He always thought this represented his shy and quiet nature. Ever since the last meeting with the other yamis and hikaris, that fog/mist had grown a bit thicker.

Bakura moved to the very center of the room and sat down. He pretended that this wasn't his soul room, and tried to examine it from the perspective of an outsider. To his delight it actually worked. After a few moments of concentration, he couldn't sense some of the things he usually could as the owner of this room. Then he tried to see if an outsider could hear the whispers of some of his memories. He couldn't.

He stood up and walked to one of the sections of the room, one of the countries he had been to before. He tried to drag up a memory from there, still pretending to be an outsider. And to his surprise, it actually worked. A large white rose, stained with red paint, appeared.

He let the memory fade away.

He returned to the center of the room and thought.

_How do I go about doing this? The obvious thing would be to make keys and locks. But what about the memories and information inside? How would I go about protecting that? If someone could just randomly drag up a memory from me, who knows what that means for the others' personal secrets? I need to think... Maybe Marik or Yugi has an idea!_

He unlocked his soul room and opened the door. He stuck his head outside and looked around to make sure his yami wasn't there. Bakura sensed that he wasn't, so he moved the rest of hisself out the room, closing the door gently and quietly behind him. He looked across the hallway at the black and dark red door to Yami Bakura's soul room. It was closed.

He knew that he would probably be punished for this later, but he didn't care at the moment. And besides, it about the Triangle, giving him an excuse. Yami Bakura had said he would do the same thing to Bakura, so why couldn't Bakura do it to his yami? _I have every right to do so_, Bakura realized.

Bakura walked over to the door and put a hand on the doorknob. He hesitated, but after a few moments he closed his eyes, turned the knob, pushed the door open, and took a step inside.

The room was huge, about the size of his and Yugi's soul rooms put together.

Bakura had only been in the spirit's room five times before. This was his sixth. But his first uninvited. He's always had a feeling that the spirit was hiding some of the room's contents from him, but now he knew it was true.

Only three things in the room were not new to him: the landscape, which consisted of sandy ground, a few desert plants here and there, a small bridge that went over a small river of blood that divided the room in half, and a dark indigo sky, which kinda reminded him of the Shadow Realm, only blue. The only walls in the room were the one the door was on and the one across from it. The desert seemed to go on forever to the left and right of the walls, but the room was actually square, and if one was to try to walk in either direction, they would eventually hit a solid barrier. The infinite side of the room was only an illusion. The second thing that wasn't new was the throne in the back of the room, which had a small pile of treasures to its right.

The third and final thing he was familiar with was the darkness. He could see perfectly fine in the room, but it was obvious that it was dark. It was more like a tangible darkness rather than a visible darkness; one that you could sense more than see.

Everything else about the room was new to him. The bloodstains and bones in the sand, the while spectral forms of the spirits flying around... There were other things, but those two were the only things that registered to him.

A good majority of the spirits suddenly rushed at him. He panicked and froze, unsure of why they were coming at him or what he should do.

Then suddenly, he knew.

Bakura heard a voiceless presence in his mind tell him exactly what to do. He called upon a bit of the light in his heart to form a bright orb and pierce through the darkness with it. The spirits flying around the room avoided him and the small orb of light in his hands.

He gazed at the ball of light and smiled at it. _I hope this was just instinctive_, he thought, _and that Bakura didn't have anything to do with it. But either way its a good thing I did this. I has no idea what those...things can or would do._

He shone the light in his hands at the darkness. It didn't chase the shadows away, but it did make it easier for him to see though it.

He walked slowly across the sandy terrain to the throne in the back of the room.

The meaning of it was obvious: a throne fit for the (former) King of Thieves.

_I wonder if the Pharaoh or Yugi has one as well, since they're the King of Games and all..._ Bakura laughed to himself at the thought. _And also Yami used to be the King of Egypt, of course..._

Something on it caught his eye...

What appeared to be a small little dial in the shape of a sun at the top.

He remembered one time when he had been called in that his yami was about to touch the dial. Then Bakura had coughed and the spirit moved his hand away to face him.

Maybe...

Bakura halted in front of the throne and stared at the sun symbol. He reached out to touch it.

He walked out of Bakura's soul room and closed the door. The orb of light he had held had faded long ago.

He had an idea of what to do for their soul rooms. And he knew how to do it and what would need to be done. He was ready to share it with the others.

He walked through Yugi's hallway first, but both doors were closed. He could sense occupancy in both of them. If they were in their rooms but the doors were closed, then both of them were probably busy. But he hoped that Yugi wouldn't be busy for too long, because they needed to meet up today for things to be ready and settled with in time for school on Monday.

So Ryou left them alone and walked into Marik's hallway.

* * *

_~Meanwhile still~_

* * *

"Secrets hidden in the darkness..." Marik quoted. "Does that mean that we would somehow round up our secrets and memories and put them in the darkest parts of our soul rooms?" He looked around his and Malik's soul room.

It was split right down the middle. One side was Marik's, one side was Malik's. On the floor, right in front of the walls to the left and right of the door, on each side were the letters L and R respectively.

It was funny how the letters worked. The only difference in their names were the letters L and R, and Malik's half was the Left while Marik's half was the Right.

Marik's side was mostly illuminated in light, with all of the light towards the front of the room. Inversely, Malik's was almost completely shrouded by darkness, with all of the dark in the front of the room.

Marik had a small bit of darkness in the back, which he always knew represented his own personal evil that had dominated him in the years and days before the end of Battle City. Malik had a much smaller amount of light in the back of the room, but it was only there due to being a part of Marik. The dark and light of each side constantly mixed and mingled with the darkness and brightness of the other side.

Marik had discovered something interesting while being locked in the room one day: if you were to go up against the wall on either side of the room and press your face against the wall to look, you would be able to see a thin layer of one (either light or dark) that was hiding behind the bulk of the other one. So where there was darkness, there was a thin layer of light underneath, and the opposite was also true.

Marik knew that their memories and secrets lied in the back of their sides of the room, in the minority of its composition.

To the naked eye, there was nothing in the room. But everything in there was invisible, shrouded by the light and dark. One could only tell if something was there by paying close attention and _sensing_ it.

Marik and Malik knew that if someone would have the time to try to break in, then they would surely have the time and patience to try sensing the room's contents.

But what if that stuff was tangible and visible, but locked up somewhere that couldn't be accessed by simply sensing it? Then it wouldn't be so simple to get to!

"Maybe if it were like archived or something..." he gasped as he came up with the idea. "Like in something like a bookshelf or filing cabinets! The idea might seem a bit silly but it just might actually work! And we could just lock it up with a..."

"Key?"

"Yeah a ke-"

Marik realized that someone had just spoken. He turned around and saw Ryou. He was leaning against the doorway with his arms folded and one foot on the frame.

The way he was standing reminded Marik of the way Bakura might stand, so he almost mixed the two up and called him 'Bakura'.

"Hey, Ryou. How's it going? You figure something out yet?"

"Well... Kinda." He walked in. "I just past Yugi and the Pharaoh's rooms. They're in there but the doors are closed so I assume they're busy."

"Oh. Where's Bakura? He in your body right now?"

"Yeah. I assume. He wasn't in his soul room."

Marik frowned in concern. "You went in there without permission? You do know that he's probably going to find out and then-"

"I know that. But it was for the Triangle and I can use that as an excuse. I take it that Malik is doing the same? In your body?"

"Yup. Ishizu is keeping him out of trouble."

"I didn't know he caused trouble anymore."

"Doesn't Bakura?"

"Well... Er... Not that I know of."

Marik grinned and nodded. "Yeah exactly. Not that you _KNOW of_."

"Don't do that. Make me suspicious and worried. You hang out with him, right? You two still commit felonies together?"

"Hey!" Marik shouted with hurt in his voice. "He may still be a thief but I've changed. I simply hang of with him because I like him and to keep him in line. You should be thanking me, not accusing me."

"You're right, you're right," Ryou said as he moved over to the wall next to the door on Marik's side of the room. "I'm glad that you two are friends. It _does_ keep him out of trouble and out of my hair. And also it keeps him away from the Pharaoh. I'm pretty sure he spends most of his time bothering me or the Pharaoh, and the rest of his time with you. I like that. Er...the last part, I mean."

"Yes... So what brings you here?"

"Oh um... Right. That. Meeting. I was wondering if you were ready or of you came up with anything. Besides, I did and I'm bored with nothing to do."

"Why don't you go be nosy in Bakura's soul room like he usually is in yours?" Marik suggested with a small grin.

"Ha. Already did that, like I said. Again, Yugi seems to be busy and it would be rude to go in there and risk breaking his concentration if he's doing something important."

"Oh I'm done," a voice said from the doorway. Ryou turned around and Marik looked over Ryou's shoulder. Yugi stood there.

"Wasn't really doing anything that important. Just thinking a lot. Couldn't come up with anything. Hm..." Yugi looked at his watch. "I wonder what time it is..."

"Does that watch even work or have the right time in here?" Marik asked.

"I have no idea. That's why I'm wondering what time it is. Where are Malik and Bakura?"

"Bodies," Ryou and Marik replied.

"Oh... So... You gonna go out there and switch with them? Or you want me to take over my body and text or call you two?"

"I don't I know what they're doing and I wouldn't want to interrupt them, so maybe we should just take a peek outside," Ryou suggested.

"Ah they're probably not doing anything important," Marik said. "I'll go. It's my soul room and we wouldn't want a repeat of yesterday. Wow! It's a good thing Bakura did that soulswap thing! Now we know."

"Yes... He was right..." Ryou murmured.

"So I'll go see what Malik and Ishizu are doing."

Before anyone could stop him, Marik concentrated on his body and moments later disappeared from the room.

He came back a moment later.

"That was fast," Yugi commented.

"I was out there for like a minute."

"Felt like five seconds to me."

"Time is weird in the Triangle. But anyway, guess what I saw? Ishizu isn't with Malik, probably in her room or something, but Bakura is."

"What? Why?"

"Don't know. They didn't seem to notice me, but they were sitting close to each other on the couch and whispering about something. I didn't try to eavesdrop." Marik smirked internally. _I can _so_ use that against him at some point..._

"Well," Yugi said with a shrug, "I guess it makes it easier for us. I'm the only one that has to go anywhere since you two are already together. Erm... Your bodies, that is, are already together."

"Right. Marik , did you get a look at the time while you were out there?"

"Yeah. It's almost time. We should probably meet up now. Go to your soul rooms. See you there, Yugi."

Yugi waved good-bye and ran to his soul room. Ryou also waved and exited, but he walked and went in the opposite direction that Yugi had.

Marik quickly projected himself again to outside of his mind.

A strange sight met him.

* * *

In Marik's one-story house, there were two couches. One that was in the 'living room' and was up against the wall facing the TV, while the other was right in the middle of the front room, facing the door with its back facing the hallway. Last Marik checked, the two yamis had been on the couch facing the TV.

Now, they were on the middle couch. Marik had materialized behind them, so they didn't notice him. They sat very close together, with their feet on the couch and their knees near their faces. Malik had his hands cupped around his mouth, which was next to Bakura's ear.

He snickered at the sight. _Oh yes..._ Marik thought slyly. _I can _definitely_ blackmail..._

Marik decided to mess with them. He moved very close behind their heads, then suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "WHAT ARE YOU TWO WHISPERING ABOUT!"

"AHHH!" both yamis cried. They flinched. There was a mess between their heads and they started shouting and fidgeting.

"Shit, Malik you bit my ear! What the fuck is wrong with you!" Bakura shoved his hand into Malik's face.

"Not my fault! It was an accident! I flinched and my jaw locked! He shouldn't have done that!" Malik started swinging his arms trying to push Bakura away from him. "And you elbowed me in the ribs!"

"I flinched as well! And you shouldn't have been so damn close!" Bakura put his foot up against Malik's chest and started trying to push him away.

But Malik grabbed his arm and held on to it so he wouldn't be shoved away. "Oh you flinched?! Aren't go supposed to have superior hearing, Touzoku? I thought you has skills."

"I do! Skills to kick your ass for that!" With his free hand, Bakura cupped his hurting ear. Malik held his free hand up against his ribs where Bakura had elbowed him.

"And I had to be close! You have no idea how well sound travels here and how good Ishizu's hearing is! I thought we were supposed to be _quiet_."

Marik was absolutely hysterical. He laughed so hard at the two of them fighting with each other and cursing and throwing insults...It was amusing to watch. But in the back of his mind, he knew that it could also be as horrifying for them to fight as it was amusing. Especially if it was over something serious. But this fight was amusing.

But not everyone thought that.

"What in Ra's name are you two doing?!"

The yamis froze. Everyone turned their heads to the source of the voice.

Ishizu stood in the entrance to the hallway, glaring angrily at the yamis on the couch with her hands on her hips. "I thought you two were going to be keeping quiet."

Marik stood between the couch and the hallway, so he was partially in Bakura and Malik's line of sight. It was the. That they remembered that Marik had screamed in their ears, causing their argument. They untangled themselves and pointed at the air where Marik stood. "His fault!" they shouted.

Marik turned around to face them. "Hey!" he cried. "Not my fault. You two should have been paying attention!"

"You shouldn't have screamed in our ears!" they shot back.

"Is Marik there?" Ishizu asked in a much calmer tone.

"Yeah..."

"Marik," Ishizu said to her invisible brother, "Can you please take over and get Malik out of here. I said I would allow them to stay and talk together only if they kept quiet and didn't start fighting. So now they have to get out."

"Well okay, because me and Ryou and Yugi are going somewhere in a few minutes, as soon as Yugi and Ryou get here..."

"She can't hear you, idiot," Malik reminded him. He replayed the message for Ishizu.

"Well that's good. So when is Ryou going to get here?"

"I don't-"

"She can't hear you!"

"Well let me finish so you can-"

Suddenly, Marik and Bakura heard a noise from the side of the couch. It sounded like soft laughter being muffled by a hand. Bakura turned away from them and peered over the arm of the couch while Marik walked around it.

There they saw Ryou hiding on the side of the couch, trying to stifle his laugh with his hand.

Then he removed the hand and let out a quiet laugh. He looked up and saw Marik and Bakura's faces upside down. "Hello there. I'm sorry. You two arguing and no one knowing I was here was just a bit to humorous."

"How long have you been there?" Marik asked calmly and Bakura asked in a loud voice.

"Huh?" Malik kneeled up as tall as he could, trying to see who was hiding where his hikari and fellow yami were looking. "Who's there?"

"Your little cream puff," Marik replied.

Malik narrowed his eyes at him. He knew what Marik was trying to do. And it wouldn't work. Not if he could help it.

The Bakuras ignored Marik's comment.

Ryou stood up and turned around.

He knew Ishizu couldn't hear him, but he said anyway, "Hello there, Ishizu."

No one said anything. "Ahem," Ryou said to Bakura.

"What?" Bakura asked.

"I said hello."

"She can't hear you."

"I know that! Pass the message on for me!"

"Ugh!" Bakura groaned, but reluctantly did so. "Ryou says hi. There, happy now?"

"Yes."

"Oh... Hello, Ryou. So are you and Marik going to switch out now? Because they need to leave...like now."

"Aw... Why are you being so hard on us?" Malik asked, faking being hurt by her attitude towards them.

"Because we had an agreement that you could only stay here if you two stayed quiet and didn't start fighting. And you didn't stay quiet and you started fighting so you two need to let your lights take over. Now."

Bakura and Malik groaned in annoyance, but complied. Ishizu was probably the only one in the room capable of giving them orders that they would actually obey. Maybe it was her confident attitude and stern tone of voice. Or maybe it was just because... They didn't know what. But whatever it was, they actually listened to and respected her. They let their hikaris take control of their bodies.

Ishizu had long ago gotten used to Marik and Malik switching and even Yugi and the Pharaoh switching, but wasn't as used to watching Ryou and Bakura switch. _I'll get used to it eventually, _she told herself._ ...I hope. Because I have a feeling this is going to happen very often around me._

The hikaris turned to her and smiled reassuringly.

"Hello," she greeted them with a smile. She relaxed significantly.

"Hey wait a second..." Ryou suddenly said, looking down. "Where is the Millenium Ring?" He felt his shirt to check if Bakura had been wearing the Ring underneath it instead of over it, but he felt nothing.

"And the Rod..." Marik murmured.

Ryou looked over at his yami and noticed that he wasn't wearing one either.

Bakura heard his question and noticed his gaze. "On the table over there," he said, pointing to the low coffee table in front of the other couch. "So's the Rod."

"Why did you take it off?" Marik asked as he walked over to the table to retrieve the Items.

"No reason," Malik replied. "By the way, Bakura, how much time do you have left?"

The spirit turned his head to a clock in the room. "Erm... probably about two minutes..." His eyes widened at his own words and he turned to Ryou. "Hikari, put the Ring on right now."

"Why?" Ryou asked. The urgency in his voice confused him. Time left? What did that mean?

"Don't question it. Just do it. Now. If you don't, there's a good chance that I might die and possibly Malik as well."

Ryou would have normally questioned if Bakura was telling the truth, because what he just said sounded ridiculous, but the fact that time was involved and the urgency in Bakura's commanding tone of voice compelled him to act before he thought. Ryou grabbed the Millenium Ring when Marik walked close enough and slipped the string around his neck. Nothing happened.

He looked at Bakura questioningly, when he noticed the spirit snickering quietly behind his hand. "What's so funny?" he asked with a frown.

"How gullible you are," Bakura replied with a smile. "You know there's a time limit on how long I can still be in contact with you when you're not wearing it. That time limit was about to run out. But it didn't. I'm a little disappointed in you, Hikari, that you actually fell for that."

Ryou blinked, and his frown deepened. "That was unneccessary," he told Bakura, "making me worry and panic like that. You didn't even need to lie. If you had told me how long ago you had taken it off, I would have been worried just the same and put it on to make sure our connection didn't break."

"Actually, making you panic was the point. Watching you freak out for no reason was absolutely hilarious..." Then he registered the rest of what Ryou had said. "Wait a minute... you would have done it anyway? You would have put the Ring on anyway?"

"Yes. I would have."

"Even though you're usually trying to get rid of me?"

"Yes."

"Even though you could have gotten rid of me for the day if you hadn't touched it?"

"Yes. Wait... The rest of the day?" Ryou facepalmed and sank to his knees. "I forgot that I have stuff to do and need to keep you away from me today... Ugh... Now I regret it..."

Bakura smiled. Now Ryou was acting more reasonable towards him. _Hehehe...That's what I thought._

"Ugh... Oh well..." Ryou got back on his feet. "But you will give me space, right? Because you do know that it's important what-"

"Yes, Ryou. I know. About the Triangle. I'll leave you alone. For today. Just don't get used to it, okay? I do get bored sometimes."

"Right... whatever... I wonder when Yugi will get here..."

"Should we go check?" Marik asked.

"No. He's on his way here, I'm sure. Hard to say when he left though. After all, time is twisted in the Triangle. I wonder if the time difference is different for everyone's soul rooms and hallways."

"Maybe."

"Do either of you know where the Pharaoh is?" Bakura asked boredly.

"No," Ryou lied. "Why? So you can bother him?"

"You know me too well. I can't bother you, so he's the next best thing."

Malik just sat there, almost as bored as Bakura. He was being strangely silent, probably because he was bored.

Marik suddenly remembered Ishizu. He turned to the hallway and saw her still standing there somewhat awkwardly, watching the entire scene before her and trying to fill in the gaps of what the spirited forms were saying.

"OH MY GOSH ISHIZU!"

"What?" she asked, surprised at Marik's tone of voice. It was annoyed. And loud.

"I thought you said you would back off! Why are you still standing there?"

"I was about to ask the same thing," Malik commented.

"Erm..."

"Please. Just like... Stop it... You said you wouldn't interfere. Why were you just standing there watching us?"

"I..."

Malik noticed that she was still wearing the Millenium Necklace. He eyed it warily. It seemed to stare back at him and ask 'I dare you to try something'.

"...don't know. I just didn't feel like leaving, I guess."

Malik and Bakura exchanged glances. A silent message passed between them. They nodded.

* * *

"Well could you please leave now?"

"Ryou!" Bakura shouts out of nowhere.

"What?"

"You should have put the Ring on sooner! Those seconds you wasted asking me why were crucial!"

"What?"

"Do you have any idea what you caused?" Malik asks him.

Ryou looks back and forth between the two of them. "What did I do?! I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

"Marik... I think I'm.."

"Ryou... me too..."

The two of them even go through the effort of making themselves more transparent to their hikaris.

"Ryou... Something's happening! It might be your fault!..."

"Yami... What did I do?!"

"I don't know!"

"Marik! Is the same thing happening to us?!"

"I have no idea! Is it?!"

All of a sudden, the hikaris black out. The yamis immediately take their place in control of their bodies.

They make sure that Ryou and Marik are unconscious before locking them in their soul rooms.

They turn to Ishizu and smirk evilly.

She takes a step back. "What are you... You lied, didn't you? Nothing really happened you just wanted to take control without them knowing you were doing it!"

"Exactly, sis. Now you know how you said you wouldn't get involved? You listening in on that conversation totally counts as being involved."

"So," Bakura continues, "Why don't we get you _un_involved, Isis?" They start walking closer. Bakura holds up the Millenium Ring and it starts to glow. Malik does the same thing with the Millenium Rod.

Ishizu suddenly finds herself backing up against a wall, when there is no wall behind her. Probably Malik's doing. Malik runs around her and grabs her from behind.

"Guess you didn't see this coming, did you?" he asks in a low whisper. "I guess since it's not working for you right now you won't be needing this." Before she has time to react, he removes the Millenium Necklace from around her neck and pockets it.

Bakura continues walking closer. "You should really listen to your brother," he says. "Because we _really_ don't want you getting involved."

The Ring starts glowing brighter. Ishizu feels something happening to her mind.

* * *

"Ishizu!"

She snapped out of her daze and looked at Marik. "Yes?"

He looked at her with concern. "You were totally zoned out there for a second. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you if you could leave now. Just don't try to fill in the gaps anymore when any of the six of us are talking. Please."

"Ryou!" Bakura shouted out of nowhere.

"What?"

"You should have put the Ring on sooner! Those seconds you wasted asking me why were crucial!"

"What?"

"Do you have any idea what you caused?" Malik asked him.

Ryou looked back and forth between the two of them. "What did I do?! I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

OH NO!

The yamis were so focused on confusing their hikaris that they didn't notice Ishizu creeping up behind Marik. She took the Rod from his hand gently.

They only noticed her once she tried to move towards Ryou.

"Marik! Is the same thing happening to us?! HEY!"

She didn't hear him, but saw Marik and Ryou turn to her, so no doubt Malik and Bakura had as well.

Ishizu froze. She stood up and waved the Rod towards where she assumed one of the yamis stood. "My Necklace showed me your little plot. And I'm not going to let that happen."

"And what's going to stop us from making it happen anyway?" Bakura shot back, forgetting that she couldn't hear or see him.

Then there was a knock at the door. Then the doorknob turned.

"Bakura, you forgot to lock the door behind you!" Malik said.

Yugi's head appeared in the doorway. "Hey guys. You here? You left the door unlo-" Yugi cut himself off as he registered the scene before him. It was odd, Bakura and Malik were in spirit form, looking like they were about to turn on Ishizu, she was holding the Millenium Rod and wearing the Necklace, and Ryou and Marik looked just worried and confused as Yugi felt. But the worry faded when they saw him. "Yugi!" they cried and ran over to him.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Um..." Ishizu said nervously. "Well Malik and Bakura were about to... do something. But I stopped them."

"What kind of something?" Yugi asked her as he glared at said yamis.

Ishizu glared at them (actually, at the spots she now realized they stood at) as well. "You don't really need to know. I'm fine."

"What did they try to do to you?"

Ishizu looked around at the three hikaris and realized that Malik and Bakura and Marik were right: she _did_ need to start making the effort to stay out of it.

"I'm sorry. Just ignore me. Sorry for prying so much. I'll be going now..."

She handed the Millenium Rod back to Marik and walked to her room. They could hear the door close softly behind her.

Marik and Yugi watched her go. Ryou, however, was all too eager to leave and stared at the front door. But how to keep Malik and Bakura occupied...?

"Well um... Bakura..." he said tentatively. "Would you be willing to let Malik hang out with you for a while more while Marik, Yugi and I meet up? Just to keep everyone out of our soul rooms in case we need to go in there for any reason."

The darks exchanged glances, then turned back to Ryou said, "I can live with that."

Ryou smiled. "Good. Bye now. Wait. Let me rephrase that... Good-bye. Now."

The firmness in Ryou's voice surprised Bakura for a moment. So much that he practically dragged the other spirit in the room into his soul room.

When they were gone, all three hikaris sighed in relief. They were taken care of.

Time to go have their meeting.

But first: lunch.

* * *

**And yes, by now the suspected (on yours and Malik's parts) thiefshipping is probably terribly obvious. NOW! That isn't to say that there WILL be thiefshipping in this. Again, the pairings and couples and crushes and relationships in this are totally not obvious or what they seem. Don't assume anything! And at the same time, assume everything!  
But notice the genres? I kept them as "Drama" and "Spiritual". Notice how Romance isn't one of them? The plot of this story has nothing to do with relationships, it has to do with the Triangle. Of course, those pairings may be affected/changed by its existance. But who knows?! Past a certain chapter, not even I know who is going to end up with who. (Basically what I'm saying is that anything can happen, and if you see any thief/tender shipping here it's because I can't help it, being a thief/tender shipper at heart. I don't want you to be decieved. Hm... Maybe i should just shut up and stop oversoing the excusees whatevers... (~_~) ya...) Don't focus on the romance (even though that's like the best part!).**

**Sorry about splitting it up. I just felt like getting this out of the way and whatevers. And also it was getting too long. This isn't even the proper meeting yet, and served more as a little tour through everyone's soul rooms, foreshadowing (as is always present in part 2), a transition to the actual meeting, and (again, as always present,) setting up the situationszez for part 3. It wouldn't make sense for me to not give you this and keep having to add on to the end of a chapter that can end right here.**

**Ah... I just realized I need to correct myself!  
I said that this is the part where the DRAMA happens, remember? Well I just realized that I kinda lied. See, back when I was still doing part 1, and even shortly after writing A Volcanic Escape, I pre-planned every single chapter in parts 1 and 2 and a bit of 3. I scrapped that chapter outline because it's just not gonna happen that way. So only _NOW_ do I realize that this isn't where the drama happens. The crazy stuff and drama-y things happen in part 3, "Trianglular Issues" (omg "issues" sounds and looks _way_ too much like "Ishizu"...). This is more like...erm... I don't know what it is. All i know is that the number of chapters that Part 1 is made of is totally unnecesary. (Maybe I should condense it later...?) So Part 1 is the Main plot, Part 3 is the dramas, Part 2 is the...inbetween what-are-we-going-to-do-about-it part. **

**So um... ya... time to give them food and then have them meet up.**

**Next chapter: PART 2: Chapter 4 Part B- The Light's Turn (for real this time)  
~ The hikaris finally start the meeting, after eating. **

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	13. P2, C4B: The Hikaris' Meeting

_IT IS FINALLY HERE!_

**Nyeh! Sorry for the long wait! It's been a month, hasn't it? I got stuck on the part about Marik's soul room, and I didn't want to split the chapter again. The thing is that this whole fanfic is just one big look into my mindcanon about all of their personalities and soul rooms and stuff. And I didn't have one for Marik and Malik/Melvin/Yami Marik, so I had to make it up on the spot. It's also a look into my mindcanon for certain YGO ships.  
Another reason for the hold-up is because I was just so lost on how I should end the chapter. Then I had a great idea just in time so here you go!  
I just finished the last edits this morning and I REALLY wanted to get it you you as soon as I was done with it, so it may have a few errors in the last few parts where they tell their yamis the meeting is over. I only checked spelling a bit, and my iPod did most of the rest, so it should be good enough. I'll edit it better and more later.  
[Edit: I fixed it up a bit. It's a bit bettererer now. There was this part where it said "the liquor", and it was supposed to say "the liquid", so I know my iPod was being a smartass. Glad I caught that!]**

**Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik' (probably should be obvious by now). Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.  
This part is being erased in 2 chapters (the day that they all are just taking a break from the Triangle, chapter 6). Because you should know this by now and not keep needing reminders.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 4, part B.**  
**I split it into 2 parts to save space and so I could separate the pre-meeting part from the meeting part, since those two parts have VERY different moods. You'll see what I mean.**

**This chapter (P2, C4B: The Hikaris' Turn) is a tribute of sorts to Little Kuriboh and his abridged series, YGOTAS.**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Part B  
**/\ The Hikaris' Turn /\

* * *

"It's obviously me. Just look at me! Just look! Why wouldn't it be me?"

"No no no! It's definitely me! You couldn't even see me my first week here because there were so many people around me!"

"Yes but those are just girls. I have the most total _fans_, by far. Some people in this city even got haircuts like mine! It's crazy!"

"Yes but we don't see them around you at school, do we? My fangirls would totally crush your fans any day."

"Hello? Doesn't anyone remember that the same happened to me on my first day? And it was only the girls around your age. I attracted females from every grade. That's way better than you!"

"I'm adorably cute."

"I'm amazingly sexy."

"I'm awesomely skilled."

The three of them were eating out and Burger World. Ryou had questioned this choice because he knew that Téa worked there, but Yugi reassured him that she only worked on school days. They all didn't really feel like eating much, do they ordered one meal for the three of them to share. Yugi took the burger, Ryou took the fries, and Marik took the drink.

They were having a nice, friendly, and Triangle-free conversation, when a lady with a kitten walked in. Marik had commented that it was Ryou's long lost twin, and the conversation had turned to adorableness, and then about attractiveness, then about fans.

All three of them insisted that they had the most.

Yugi, because he was the King of Games and famous for his Puzzle and his game skills;  
Ryou, because he was the cutest and literally had a fan club at school just for him;  
And Marik, because he was the sexiest and best people person.

So far... Yugi was winning.  
But Ryou and Marik were doing most of the competing.  
And out of the two of them, Ryou was winning.

"No matter how you look at it," Ryou said, "I'm always the winner. I'm just that adorable."

He absent-mindedly dipped a fry in Yugi's ketchup and for some reason drew a triangle on his napkin.

Marik stared at what Ryou was drawing, while Yugi was staring at the fry that stole his ketchup.

They all suddenly realized why they were truly there and the conversation lost its casual and informal atmosphere.

"So..." Ryou said as he stared at his drawing. "Erm... We should probably finish up... Right?"

Marik shook his cup. "I'm done. Only ice." He removed the lid of the cup and proceeded to eat the ice cubes.

"Me too." Yugi and finished his burger about two minutes ago.

"I'm done as well." Ryou ate the last two fries. They put everything on the tray (except for Marik's cup of ice) and Ryou stood up to throw it out and place the tray on top where the trays go.

"So..." Yugi said when he returned to the table, "where are we going next?"

"To your soul room," Marik answered, lowering his voice. "Right? Wasn't that the-"

"Yes, but we can't do it here," Yugi told him, also lowering his voice. "It'll draw attention if the three of us suddenly lose consciousness while people are watching. We need to go somewhere that no one will see us when we leave our bodies to go to the Triangle."

"Maybe my place?" Ryou suggested. "No one has any reason to go there besides us three. It'll be perfect."

Yugi and Marik nodded, liking the idea.

After a few seconds more of conversation, they all stood up and left Burger World.

* * *

**~Transition~**

* * *

Ryou unlocked the door to his apartment and the three hikaris stepped inside. He locked the door behind them.

"Marik... The walk was like ten minutes. How are you not done with that ice yet?"

"Shush, Yugi. I like ice."

"Okay... Whatever..."

"So where do you two want to do this? Living room, my room, or game room?"

"Game room has a lock on the door, right?" Yugi asked.

"Yes it does."

"We can go there."

Ryou suddenly regretted adding that as an option. "Uh... You sure? So does my room and I wouldn't mind."

"Better to be behind two locked doors, then," Marik said. He knew that the game room was attached to Ryou's room.

"Alright then," Ryou said with a sigh. "But I'm not locking my room door. Only the game room door."

Ryou led them to his room and unlocked the door to the game room. They entered. Again, he locked the door behind them.

"Mwahahaha! Now I have you both trapped exactly where I want you and there is no escaping!" Ryou said in a voice strangely similar to Bakura's. "Now there is nothing stopping me from getting my hands on your Millenium Items and I will have all the power I desire!" He raised his hand dramatically and started laughing evilly.

Marik and Yugi laughed. "That's a good impression of Bakura," Marik said.

Ryou dropped the voice acting. "I know, right? He's not the only one who can impersonate the other. I can actually look like him using the same ability he uses to look like me. I'll show you later maybe."

"Yes, later," Marik said as he sat down on the floor. Yugi sat to his left. Ryou sat to his right. They sat in a triangle.

"So, let's go then?"

They nodded.

"You sure that Bakura and Malik won't bother us?" Yugi asked warily. He knew that Yami would stay in his soul room. For all Yugi knew, he was probably still in that room they had found earlier.

"I'm sure," the other lights answered him in unison.

"I'm ready then," Yugi said with a nod.

They all laid down, closed their eyes, and concentrated on their soul rooms. Just like last time they did this transition together, they all automatically held hands for some reason.

Moments later, their eyes opened and were blank, just like last time.

They were in the Triangle.

* * *

.

* * *

Each of them woke up in their soul rooms, thankfully on their feet. They exited their rooms. Yugi waited outside of his room while Marik walked over to his hallway to meet him. Ryou made sure that Malik and Bakura were in Bakura's soul room before heading over to Yugi's hallway as well.

The three hikaris met up outside of Yugi's door, and a moment later they walked inside and closed the door.

The meeting had officially begun.

* * *

The first thing that happened was that Yugi went to get something he had hidden under a rug while Ryou took something out of his back pocket. A small notebook. And a pencil.

"Nice to see that you actually _did_ clean up in here," Marik joked before noticing the notebook and turning to Ryou to ask, "What's that?"

"For taking notes. This _is_ a meeting, after all."

"But how will you remember them when you go back to your body?"

"I'll take the notebook out with me. Obviously."

"How is that possible?" Yugi asked as he slid something out from under the rug.

"Oh... Well it's obvious to me. I can do that. Both of us, Bakura and I, can. We learned how to do it long ago. Of course I learned it long after he did, seeing how he had several thousand years to learn about it. But it's easy. As easy as teleporting here. And it's obviously possible. It's the same thing that allows us to be wearing clothes here, right?"

"I think that might be a different concept, Ryou," Yugi said as he slid the object over.

"Maybe. I can teach you two if you... What's that you have there?"

"Puzzle," Yugi replied. "I was doing it before I met you two in Marik's room. I was just thinking about stuff while solving this blank puzzle, but then-"

"It doesn't look blank," Marik pointed out.

"I was getting to that. It's usually blank, so I do it for a challenge. But I was thinking about things while solving it and the next thing I knew, I had solved half of it in record time and it had images and pictures on it. It's really weird because it's never happened before."

"Whoa..." Ryou breathed as he gazed at the completed jigsaw puzzle in front of them.

It still looked like a blended mosaic, but now the mosaic was complete. The room that Yugi had discovered in Yami's soul room was in the upper left corner. It blended into the red and lava-filled scene of the volcano on the right, and blended into what looked like the sandy-colored walls of a room in the temple on the bottom. Somewhere in the scene, from left to right, were Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik side by side. A chain that looked like the one the Millenium Puzzle hung from went diagonally from the upper right to the lower left corners of the frame. The Millenium Rod, Ring, and Puzzle hung from three of the links in the middle of the chain, while the other four Items hung from other links towards the end of the chain. Several times throughout the puzzle, Yugi had noticed several triangles here and there. But their appearances were subtle and not so out of place or significant: the shape of the Millenium Puzzle and Ring and Scales, the way a corner of someone's shirt folded, the way an edge of a wall blocked the edges of a brick on the wall behind it, little shadows here and there, and even the large triangles that were formed by the chain splitting the puzzle into two triangular halves. Yugi noticed those kinds of things. And he knew that it meant he was probably worrying too much about triangles lately. Which, upon reflection, he realized that he had been.

Maybe it was time to start...

"It probably won't tell us anything because it was only what I was thinking, and if it did have any connections we haven't realized yet, then I've already figured them out. So... Shall we get started?"

The other two lights nodded. Ryou occasionally glanced at the puzzle every now and then. He took notes for them.

"How should we start?" Yugi asked.

"We should probably start with what we were thinking about before," Marik suggested. "Ryou, you came into my soul room earlier and said something about a 'key'?"

Ryou smiled. "Ah... Yes... That. I was... in Bakura's soul room earlier and I just came up with the idea. We could make keys for all of the doors. Remember when I told you about how he used to 'lock' me in my soul room all the time? Well maybe we could do that, but with literal locks and keys. And we just keep our own key. That way, we have direct control over who goes in."

Yugi and Marik nodded as they considered the idea. It was brilliant._Except for one thing_, Marik thought. _But I'll mention it later._

"That's a good idea," Yugi said. "But wait... What if someone tries to break in anyway? Like Bakura picking the lock? We know how good he is at that."

_Or I could mention it now..._

"That's where my idea comes in," Marik spoke up. "Since the main point of this is to keep our personal thoughts and feelings and information safe, I thought of a way to deal with that directly. What if we made all of that information tangible, touchable, and then lock it up somewhere in the room? Like maybe in some kind of bookshelf or filing cabinet or something like that? Would that work out?"

"Yeah... That sounds like a good idea as well. We can do both."

"The Pharaoh probably won't need one of those," Ryou noted. "His mind is so confusing to even him that whatever secrets he's hiding are probably all safe."

Ryou's words reminded Yugi of the room they had found earlier. What was in that empty room? And the hard to open one?

"We might not necessarily need it for mine either..."

"Why not, Yugi?" Ryou asked. "It's possible that someone could just simply stand in here and pull up your secrets by concentrating hard enough."

"Actually they might be able to do the same thing by looking over there," Yugi reined as he pointed to the top shelf of puzzles and games. "All of the stuff on that top shelf is personal stuff. Everything else are just regular puzzles and games."

"How is the top shelf personal?" Marik asked. "What does that mean?"

"I got this puzzle from the top shelf," Yugi explained. He tapped the puzzle on the floor before getting up and walking over to the shelf. He took out two board games with character pawns. One from the top shelf and one from a different shelf.

When he brought them over, Ryou and Marik could see that they were the same game.

"What...?" Ryou mumbled.

Yugi opened the two boxes and took out a pawn from each. The one from the other shelf was simply a blue stick figure person. The one from the top shelf looked like Joey. "See? They're different." Yugi put the pawns and boxes back in their proper places. "It's just weird like that."

"Hm..." Marik closed his eyes in thought.

"What is it, Marik?" Ryou asked, noticing his expression.

"Maybe," Marik said without opening his eyes, "we should talk about our soul rooms as well. Because how we have to deal with this might be affected by how our soul rooms work. The way information about us stored is different for all six of us. Well five, since there are five rooms. Actually it _is_ six because Malik's side might work a bit differently from mine. I'm not sure. He never told me..." He opened his eyes and looked between the two of them. "So...should we start with this room?"

Everyone was silent for a few seconds until Yugi replied, "Okay then. That sounds good. For me, everything in here is pretty much straightforward. There isn't really anything hidden or anything worth hiding. Like someone once said about it-"

"You mean Shadi?" Marik asked.

"Yes... Like _Shadi_ once said, it's a child's room filled with nothing but innocence. I don't think that's very accurate, but I guess it's sort of true. I'm not a bad person and I would never hurt anyone if I had the choice. But I'm not perfect. The only really notable things about my room are the games everywhere, the top shelf, and the changing colors."

"Changing colors?" Marik echoed.

"Yeah. Let me show you..." Yugi levitated a triangular block from a few feet away to his hand. He didn't notice Ryou and Marik's wide eyes as he stared at the block. "I somehow remember this exact block being blue yesterday. As you can see it's obviously red..." He looked up and noticed their expressions. "What?"

"You can levitate stuff?" Marik asked in slight awe. "Wow... That's pretty cool."

"Not really... It's just a thing I can do in here. Only in here, though. I'm sure that you two have your own special things you can do in your soul rooms. Right?"

"He's right though..." Ryou agreed. "I can... well I don't really want to explain that at the moment, but there's this thing I learned I could do that I can show you when we leave Yugi's room."

"Okay. So anyway... Marik, you wanna go next?" Yugi made the block float away from him. "Why did I pick a triangle one...?" he mumbled.

"Um... Okay? As you know, Malik and I are different from you two and your darks since we're kinda the same person but two different _personalities_, not two different _souls_. So we just share a room. The most notable thing in our room is the contrast between light and dark. It's literally like yin and yang in there, the way it contrasts. We're like that, Malik and I." _Except for that one thing..._ Marik thought. _I'm still trying to figure that out. But it's either one or the other..._ "And besides personal things, we sometimes keep secret the things we do. For example, I remember the other day Malik was spying on someone and I only found out today what it was that he heard."

"What was it?" Ryou asked.

"Oh, nothing really."

Ryou expected a "Just something about..." continuation from Marik. But when it didn't come, he was a little disappointed. _Why? _he asked himself. _It's not my business..._

"So..." Marik continued. "It seems like there isn't much to talk about really. We already figured out what we're going to do. All that's left is figuring out how to do it and I have a feeling that we'll be needing the others for it, especially Bakura."

"Yes," Ryou agreed. "He does have more experience with this. I wonder if he found out anything interesting..."

"If he did, we'll ask him later," Yugi said as he started putting the puzzle back under the rug he had it under before. "And also Yami and Malik. For now let's head to your soul room so you can show and tell us whatever you were going to explain."

"Right..." Ryou handed the notebook and pencil to Marik and stood up. Marik eyed the items that Ryou had just given to him and gave him a look that asked 'why did you give this to me'. But Ryou didn't see it because he was already heading for the door.

"Marik, you can take notes if you want because I'll be the one explaining," Ryou explained.

"Oh, Okay then..."

Ryou turned back to them and asked, "Ready to go, you two?"

The nodded and walked towards the door as well.

Ryou opened the door and led them out of Yugi's soul room and across to the barrier on the left. Yugi closed the door behind them.

They crossed the barrier and walked to Ryou's door. He put a hand on the door knob, but didn't turn it. Instead, he looked behind him at the door on the other side that was visible between Marik and Yugi's heads. He could sense that Bakura was still in his room. But what about Malik? Ryou had already checked that he was there before heading to Yugi's room, but was Malik still in there? "Marik... is Malik still in Bakura's soul room? Can you sense him?"

Marik glanced behind him and replied, "Yeah. He is. Didn't you already check before you went to meet us? I know that you would have."

"I did. But I just wanted to be sure..." Ryou turned back to the door in front of him. "You never know with those two. Can never be too cautious about them..."

He turned the doorknob, slowly and tentatively. Then he stopped. His hesitance surprised him. Where had it come from? Why was he so nervous about this?

He forced his hesitancy to the back of his mind and pushed the door open, then stepped aside. He motioned the room inside. "Uh... Welcome, Marik and Yugi," he said timidly, "to my soul room."

Yugi was the first to step inside and despite having been there before he gazed around the room in awe. "Wow... It's nice in here. The room looks beautiful... The-"

"It's the walls and floor, isn't it?" Ryou asked him. "Yeah... One of my favorite features of it. It's kinda like your puzzle, Yugi."

"My Puzzle? How so?" Yugi asked, putting a hand on his Millenium Puzzle.

"Oh no not _that_ puzzle," Ryou said with a laugh. "I meant the jigsaw puzzle you showed us. It's like a collage, with all of the different scenes blending into each other. The same thing in this room: a collage of scenes. Only it's not made up of my thoughts, the sections are of places I've lived."

"Wow..." Marik said to that. "I knew you traveled a lot but I never knew that you've visited this many countries... Must have been hard moving so many times. Have you ever finished a school year in any of these places?"

Ryou felt hesitant to answer him and add to the conversation.

"Only here. But can we not talk about me and how the room looks?" Yugi was still looking around, and had taken a few more steps into the room. "Let's talk about what we came here to discuss."

"Which was the room," Marik reminded him. He walked over to the center of the room and sat down in a sandy section, the one that represented Egypt.

"Yes... But not what it looks like. That's not relevant. What is relevant, I guess... is what I can do in here." Ryou closed his eyes and walked to the very center of the room with a small smile on his face.

"Which is?" Yugi asked. He decided to sit in the center of the room as well like Marik did, but this time in the Japan section.

"I'll show you. To demonstrate my point, I'll need a volunteer... Back up please," he instructed when he had reached the very center of the room and stood on the spot where the sections met.

They both scooted back a little bit.

"I'll pick the volunteer." He suddenly spun around in place, then stopped suddenly and pointed at the floor in front of him. He opened an eye to see who he had picked. "Yugi." Ryou smiled and opened both eyes and lowered his arm. "You."

"Me?" Yugi asked a bit warily. "What are you..."

"Don't worry. It's not going to hurt. Well it shouldn't. I'm going to show you three things I can make happen. This one might seem a bit silly. I always joked I myself that this would be an awesome attack power in a fighting video game Just watch. Stand up please and take a few steps back."

Yugi obeyed.

"Now watch." Ryou closed his eyes and faced the England section. He frowned slightly in concentration, then raised his hand.

Marik and Yugi watched as something appeared in the section. A table. A chair. Someone in the chair. A cup. They recognized the person sitting as a younger version of Ryou. Nothing moved. But from where he stood, Yugi could see a small smile forming on Ryou's face. The cup started shaking. Then a strange and unknown liquid slowly started rising out of it.

Ryou's eyes shot open. His arm suddenly pointed at Yugi, the liquid shot out of the cup and flew towards him.

Yugi cried out briefly in surprise as it came at him.

He felt the strange liquid hit his face and push his head back. The pressure increased a bit and he eventually backed into the wall. "AAUGGHH!" he cried in a voice that sounded bubbly from under the liquid.

None of the liquid reached the floor; it simply disappeared if it fell. Yugi's clothes and hair appeared to stay dry and only his face was wet.

The spray ended, and Yugi was glad to realize that it hadn't affected his breathing and his clothes and hair were dry. There was a tasted in his mouth though. The liquid tasted like...

"TEA?! Did you just seriously blast me with tea?!"

Ryou blushed and laughed. "Uh... Yeah... I did. If this were a video game, I would call it my 'Tea Attack'!"

The scene faded away, just before it did, though, Marik could see the younger Ryou take a sip from the cup and smile wide.

"OH MY GOSH RYOU WHY ARE YOU SO BRITISH!" Marik said as he laughed. "You are so adorable when you're British!"

"Yeah..."

"But I wouldn't have even been able to tell that you were English if I didn't know you as a friend and classmate."

"I know... I don't act it, do I?" Ryou said shyly. "I've always tried to not act it so much around others. It's become habit." He appeared thoughtful for a moment as if thinking back, but opened his eyes and remembered his audience. "Erm... What I'm really showing you here is the memory. I've only tasted this flavor once in my life and I'll never forget it... I can replay some of my memories in here."

"Wow... That's interesting. So then your stuff would probably be stored in video tapes if we were to archive it, right?"

"Most of it. For me it would be in video tapes, yes, but also probably photos and drawings. And it might be a good idea to mix it up with the stuff on my bookshelf over there to confuse someone, since the stuff over there is just reference and text books."

"Makes sense. What else can you do?" Yugi asked. He had finally recovered and had taken his seat again.

"Well this one is a bit simpler, and probably something both of you can learn to do. Conjuring light."

"Is that another video game attack power?" Marik asked sarcastically.

"No. Literally conjuring up light from the room. Watch." Ryou closed his eyes again and cupped his hands. He concentrated hard until a small amount of light from somewhere in the room flew into his hands and formed a tiny sphere. The fogmist around the orb cleared in al directions one inch from the orb. It was only then that Marik and Yugi noticed the fogmist.

"Hey, what's with the fog in the room?" Marik asked at the same time Yugi asked, "Wow, how do you do that?"

Ryou pretended to not have heard Marik and answered Yugi's question instead. "Simple. I just concentrated on the light in my heart and the light in my room came to my hands. That's all. You two can probably do it as well if you practice... It's a convenient source of light in Bakura's soul room, where it's really dark."

"Speaking of which!" Marik said, raising his voice. Ryou turned to him and hoped he wouldn't repeat his question. But he did. "What's with the fog around the room? I noticed that the light drove some of it away. I didn't notice it before but I do now."

Ryou blushed shyly. "Um... It's just another thing about me. I think it represents my... Well... Erm..."

"Shyness?" Yugi asked. "Makes sense. You aren't the most outgoing person, for sure."

Ryou's blush deepened slightly and he let the light fade away. The fogmist filled in the space it had just occupied. "Yeah. That's it. I call it fogmist, actually."

The fogmist thickened and darkened slightly the more Ryou blushed. Marik noticed. "Did it just get thicker?"

"Marik..." Yugi said in a warning tone. Marik looked at him and he flicked his eyes towards Ryou. He shook his head a bit.

Marik took the hint. "Sorry. You don't have to answer."

Ryou's blush faded and the fogmist lightened. "Moving on. So do you want me to tell you how to make stuff from the outside world materialize in here?"

"Another time," Yugi replied. "Tell us tomorrow, actually. So that the others can learn it too."

"Alright, then. Bakura and I already know how to do it. So I'll teach all four of you tomorrow." He sat down in the center of the room next to them. "So... Now what?" he asked. "Is there anything else we should be talking about? Oh! Marik, you want to explain your soul room to us? What kind of stuff can you do in there?"

"I um... Well..." Marik rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. "I...uh..." He put his arm down and looked at the other two. "I'd rather tell you during the group meeting tomorrow."

Ryou and Yugi exchanged glances and nodded. "Fine by me," Yugi said.

"Mmhmm," Ryou said in agreement.

"But I do have a catalog of every single Duel Monsters card I've ever seen. I can show you what I mean, if you want."

Yugi's eyes lit up. He was clearly interested. "Oh wow. Of course. By all means, show us!"

"That would be interesting to see..."

Marik stood up. "Well then, let's go!"

He raced out of the room and headed for his hallway. Ryou and Yugi stood up and followed.

Marik had already opened the door and was already inside by the time they got there.

"Left and Right?" was the first thing Ryou said when he entered. Marik turned around and saw him pointing at the letters on the floor.

"No, actually," Marik explained. "MA_R_IK and MA_L_IK." He put emphasis on the R and L. "Our room is divided down the middle, as you can see. Come over to my side."

When they had entered, Ryou had stepped into Malik's side of the room and Yugi had stepped onto Marik's side. Now, Ryou stepped into the light and walked over to Marik.

"So let me show you how this works..."

Marik closed his eyes and held up his arm. Then, a bunch of Duel Monsters cards appeared in huge upward spiral that was biggest at the bottom. He lowered his arm and simply flicked his wrist at the bottom row, then halted his hand. The bottom row spun when he flicked his wrist and stopped when he held up his hand. Then he moved his hand closer to him and the card that was closest to him seemed to follow the hand.

Marik turned around to face Ryou and Yugi. His palm faced upward and the card was floating above it, facing away from them. "Each of these cards means something. Either a person, place, or event. I don't want to go into the details of it right now. Malik might want to during tomorrow's meeting, but I see no point in telling you two now because I _will_ be there to tell everyone at once." He looked up to se Ryou looking at the card and Yugi looking behind him at the card spiral.

Marik turned to put the card back, but Ryou lightly touched his arm to stop him. "Wait. I want to see what card it is."

"Oh, sorry." Marik turned to him and motioned with his finger for the card to turn. It did so, and Ryou could see that it was the magic card, Monster Reborn.

Yugi looked at it as well. "Oh. That's Reborn the Monster."

"Actually, Yugi, it's Monster Reborn," Ryou corrected. "You should know that. You're King of Games, especially card games and Duel Monsters."

"Well technically Yami is half King of Games as well. Ke keeps calling it 'Reborn the Monster' by accident. Don't know why. But it's stuck with me"

"Hm. Odd. He uses it almost more than you do. Shouldn't he be more familiar with it?"

"Well that's just our dueling style. My strategies are similar to his, but I don't revive my monsters as often and he does."

"Oh. I do. I use the same general strategy that Malik used in Battle City to keep bringing back Monster Reborn so I can use it over and over. It's only one of my strategies. Heheh... It bugs my yami a lot, for some reason. He thinks it's too much like Malik's strategy, even though neither of us were around to see it, and he thinks it's a waste of time."

"Oh, I can imagine. He's so specific about his strategies that I've believed once or twice that the Heart of the Cards actually likes him!"

"What, just because he was evil means that the Heart of the Cards wouldn't work for him too?"

"Yes."

"Oh come on! He _did_ put his heart into dueling. In fact, that's the reason-"

"ARE YOU DONE JUST YET?"

They turned to Marik, who had put the cards away and was already by the door. "You two seriously talking about dueling right now?"

They exchanged smiles and replied, "Yes, we are."

"Well I would kinda like to get a move on with things."

"Okay."

"So, _are_ you two done?"

"We-"

"Yes, _are_ you three done?"

Marik jumped as he heard a voice from behind him and felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Oh my gosh!" He cried as he flinched and jumped away, bumping into Ryou who had started moving towards the door.

All three hikaris looked at the doorway and our Bakura there, head and hand peeking out from the other side. He waved at Ryou and stepped inside. "Hello, you three."

"Bakura," Yugi said.

Bakura rolled his eyes and replied to him sarcastically. "Yes, Yugi. That is who I am. Thank you for saying my name literally _every_ time I enter the room!"

"Calm down," Ryou said calmly. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be watching Malik?"

"Got bored. Came to bother you. Interesting thing you did there. Now I can break into here later and do the same thing."

"Bakura!" Marik shouted. But he was smiling. "You'd better not!"

"Don't worry, I won't. I was just kidding. The real reason I'm here is because Malik kicked me out."

At this, Marik raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? No he didn't. It's your soul room and I know that when it comes to your personal affairs that you don't take any crap from him. He didn't kick you out. If anything, I expected you to have thrown _him_ out by now!"

Bakura smiled and replied, "Surprised me, too. I seriously thought that he would have managed to piss me off by now, but no. He's actually acting decent around me for once."

"That's good. I was about to say... Did Yami decide to show up and meet you there?"

"No. Wouldn't have let him in anyway. When did you start calling him 'Yami' again?"

Marik shrugged. "Ishizu calls him that. So does Yugi. And so did I. I don't think he would mind."

"Why does he insist that Ishizu not address him as 'Pharaoh' anymore when he doesn't question or complain or correct you when you do. I've been wondering that for a while."

Marik put a finger on his chin and thought. "Hm. Never thought of that. Not sure."

"Maybe it's to keep her from feeling like she failed in her-"

"She didn't fail at anything!"

Ryou and Yugi would have been content with going back to Yugi's soul room to finish the meeting, and leaving Marik and Bakura behind to stay and chat, but the two of them were in front of the door. They leaned on opposite sides of the door frame and on different sides of the entrance, Marik inside, Bakura outside.

So to interrupt them, the two hikaris looked at each other and nodded before saying, "Are you two done yet?"

"Then why-" Bakura said before hearing them. The two of them turned to Ryou and Yugi, who were smiling slightly (but not at Bakura). "Oh. Right. I forgot that you three were busy."

"No you didn't," Ryou said. "You didn't tell us the real reason why you're here instead of watching Malik."

"Okay. Fine. The truth is that Malik was tired and fell asleep. I decided to come see if you guys were done, and maybe bother and distract you if you weren't."

"How nice..."

"Malik isn't sleeping on the floor, is he?" Marik asked.

"No. On that giant rock."

"Oh. Hey, I never saw your soul room before. You saw mine."

"You're joking, right? Of course you did. Battle City, remember?"

"True, but I couldn't see anything. I was sure that you were hiding stuff from me back then."

"Didn't trust you then. I trust you now. I'll show it to you tomorrow. For now, I ask you three once more: ARE YOU THREE FINALLY DONE WITH THE MEETING?"

The three hikaris exchanged glances, then answered.

Ryou said: "Yes."  
Yugi said: "No."  
Marik said: "Almost."

They looked at each other again and laughed lightly at their different answers.

Bakura smirked at the three of them. "Hm."

"I think we are," Marik said to him. "But we wanted to to back to Yugi's room first before anything."

"Fine."

"How did you find us, anyway? Did you check the other rooms or just come straight here?"

"You weren't in Yugi's, so I figured you were here. I know Ryou would be reluctant to show you his." Ryou have him a strange look that he didn't notice for assuming something that actually wasn't true. Bakura looked at him. "By the way, Ryou, your door was open. I closed and 'locked' it for you."

Ryou frowned at him and blushed slightly at the fact that he was able to do this without permission, seeing it as an invasion of privacy. It made him all the more anxious for the day after tomorrow, when he could put his idea into action. Hopefully, that would keep his yami out of his soul room from then on. _Hopefully_. "Erm... Thank you, I guess."

"Mmhmm."

"So, should we get going?" Yugi asked. Everyone glanced at him, then turned to the doorway and nodded.

Bakura wondered why everyone was looking at him, until he realized that he was in their way. He moved aside so they could exit, which they did so. Yugi and Ryou headed straight to the barrier on the right and ran into Yugi's hallway. Only Marik stayed behind to close the door and wave Bakura good-bye before following them.

* * *

"So that's about it!"

"Thanks for taking notes for us, Ryou."

"You're welcome. Like I said, I even took notes about what _I_ said. You both might want to copy it down later when we get back to the game room."

"I don't have-"

"I'll give you something to write with and on. And you should bring a note book like mine to tomorrow's meeting. I have two I'm not using if you want them."

"Sure."

"I'll take one."

"Let's get going, then."

The three lights stood up and moved over to the door to Yugi's soul room. Without another word, because they would see each other again in a few moments, Ryou and Marik left and headed straight for their soul rooms.

They all stood in the center of their rooms and concentrated on their bodies.

Moments later, they opened their eyes and found themselves still sitting upright and still holding hands.

* * *

.

* * *

"I'll get the notebooks," Ryou said. He stood up, unlocked the door, and left the room for a minute or two.

He had left behind the notebook he had used to take notes. Curiously, Marik picked it up and flipped through it briefly. "Yep. Definitely real. I'd like to learn how he does that."

"Me too. That's for tomorrow's meeting."

"Right. I hope everything goes alright."

"And I hope Bakura doesn't try to use us as test subjects again."

"He won't. I know he won't."

"That's good. I'm glad there's _someone _that can keep him in check. Glad it's you."

"I'm back."

They looked up and Marik closed the notebook and put it back on the floor.

Ryou walked in with two blank notebooks exactly like the one he had taken notes in, along with two extra pencils. He handed one to Marik and one to Yugi and the three hikaris began exchanging and copying notes.

"So what's the Pharaoh doing, Yugi?" Ryou suddenly asked.

"Oh um well... Not sure, really," Yugi replied. "He was in his soul room last I saw him. We found this strange room that we've never seen before. Last I left him, he was just looking around it."

"What what was so strange about it?"

"Uh...not really my place to tell. I won't tell you something about his soul room without his consent. It's not right."

"Lucky..." Ryou mumbled. No one heard him.

"Hey, is it just me or are we forgetting something?" Marik asked.

Ryou and Yugi tried to remember, but no such luck. "Not that I can think of," Yugi said.

"Could it be a result of yesterday?" Ryou asked somewhat sarcastically. He and Yugi had regained their memories of what they were doing before that incident, but they didn't forget that it was Bakura's fault.

"No. It better not!" Marik said, recognizing his sarcasm.

"We'll think of it eventually," Yugi said. "For now, let's get get ready for tomorrow. What are we going to do the day after? Are the three of us doing something together or are we doing our own thing again?"

"I'd rather we do our own thing," Ryou replied. "We'll get more done and if we all are supposed to be taking a break from the Triangle it might be best we do our own thing. And the break is also for our yamis so that they get a break from each other. If we stay apart, they will most likely do the same."

"I see where you're coming from, Ryou," Marik said to him, "but I think we can use the day after tomorrow as a break from the_ Triangle_, not necessarily from each other."

"Hm... Makes sense."

"I'm all for meeting up with you two to do something, but I'm planning to meet up with Téa, Tristan, and Joey that day as well. They somehow know that I'll be free that day."

"We'll talk about it more tomorrow."

"By the way, where are we going to meet for tomorrow?"

"I have the perfect place in mind," Ryou said. "I'll let you guys know where later today. I'll text you."

"And the time?"

"I'll let you know that, as well."

"Good. Because I want to let my grandpa know when I'll be leaving. And...maybe even make an excuse as to where I'm going."

"Me too, I have to tell Ishizu. You're lucky, Ryou. You don't have to answer to anybody and you can just leave whenever you want. Yugi and I always have to report to someone."

"How lucky am I, really?" Ryou asked him with a small frown. Marik saw the look in his eyes and knew what he meant. "Besides, this place isn't _always_ empty."

"Er... Right... True..."

"What are you two talking about?" Yugi asked them. "Who else is here?"

Ryou turned to Yugi. "My father. He comes by every month or every other month to visit."

"Really?" Yugi asked, surprised to hear this. It was news to him. "You never told me that."

"He didn't tell anyone except for me," Marik told him. "Even Malik doesn't..."

"I think that's enough about me for one day!" Ryou said to cut both of them off. "We'll see each other tomorrow, right?"

"Speaking of Malik," Yugi said, "we should probably let our yamis know that we're done."

Ryou smiled, glad his conversation change worked. "Of course. Back to the Triangle, then?"

"Back to the Triangle."

* * *

_~Back in the Triangle~_

* * *

_~In Yami's soul room~_

Yugi found Yami in the same room he'd left him in, the new one they'd found.

Yami was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, with his eyes (and the doors in the room) closed.

He whispered, so as not to startle him, "Yami?"

Even so, the Spirit of the Puzzle still jumped. His eyes shot open in alarm, but then he relaxed when he realized that it was only his hikari. "Oh it's you," he said as he stood up. "Come on in. What is it?"

Yugi stayed where he was by the door. "Just wanted to let you know that we're done and I'll be heading back home now."

"Oh. That's good. Did you get a lot accomplished?"

"We did. We came up with a plan of action and are ready to talk about it tomorrow. And I learned a bit more about Ryou and Marik. And I also was attacked by tea."

Yami raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Attacked by tea?" he echoed.

"Yup. A thing that Ryou can do in his soul room. It was a demonstration. I'm fine, though."

"That's good," he said again. "So how are the other two doing? And the _other_ other two?"

"Ryou and Marik? Fine. Bakura and Malik? Have no idea. I know that Malik fell asleep in Bakura's soul room. That's all. Bakura came by to ask if we were done."

"Did all three of you or only one person take notes? Either way, we will need to have them at tomorrow's meeting."

"Yeah. Ryou took notes. He let us copy them down afterwards. Who took notes during your meeting?"

"Malik did. At least, it _looked_ like he was."

"I'd hope so. Anyway, I'll be getting back outside now. I'll talk to you more on the way home if you want. Maybe about this room? You've been here the whole time?"

Yami frowned and looked away, casually glancing at one of the doors. "Maybe."

"Okay then. See you later."

"Mmhmm."

Yugi left the room and closed the door behind him.

_What was that all about? His mood changed significantly. I could tell..._

* * *

Ryou first sent a message to Bakura that they would be stopping by. The response he got back was that he was ready for them and he had his "_hands_" full. Ryou wondered why Bakura said the word "hands" the way he did, and wondered what his yami meant by that.

The meaning was apparent when he and Marik, after first knocking, walked inside to find Malik on top of Bakura.

Bakura was sitting on that giant boulder by the door. Aside from that, the only things in the room that were visible to the two hikaris were sand and a tree or two. One leg was hanging over the side, while Marik lay sleeping on top of Bakura's other leg.

At the sight of that, Ryou's eyes widened and Marik smirked. "What's going on in here?" they asked at the same time.

His face neutral, Bakura explained. "He woke up when I came back after talking to you three. I was going to put the other leg up when this idiot right here decided that it was a brilliant idea to fall asleep on this leg, as if I wouldn't mind." He poked Malik's face with one hand and pointed at the leg that was pinned under the other yami with the other hand. "Marik, help?"

"What do you want me to do about it?" Marik asked, still smirking, and now staring at Malik with a glint in his eyes that said he knew something no one else did.

"Wake him up for me!" Bakura cried, not noticing the look in Marik's eyes. "You're his other half. Shouldn't you know what to do? Hurry up! My leg fell asleep ten minutes ago."

"Ten? How is that possible?" Ryou asked. "The meeting ended over ten minutes ago and you left us several minutes before then..."

"Did you leave the Triangle already?"

"Uh... Yes."

"Time moves differently in soul rooms. You know that."

"Oh that's right."

"MARIK!"

"What?" Marik finally tore his gaze away from Malik and the smirk on his face finally disappeared.

"What happened to waking Malik up?"

"Oh. Right. That."

"Why don't you just push him off of you?" Ryou asked.

"Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm on the edge here. I'll fall off and hurt myself, which I obviously don't want to do. And even so, I won't be able to do it. I already tried. It didn't work. Marik."

"What?!"

"When are you going to do it?"

"Don't rush me! I'm trying to remember what I did last time to wake him up."

"Last time?"

"Yeah...I think I was waiting for a bus and somehow he had control of my body and had fallen asleep somehow. It happened a long time ago so I'm trying to remember what woke him up."

"Wow. He's a bigger idiot than I thought."

"I got it! I didn't remember what worked last time, but I know what will work this time!"

"What?"

"Nuh uh uh," Marik said with a shake of his head. "Not telling you!"

"Fine. Just do it already. It feels like I don't even have a leg anymore. What left leg?"

"Calm yourself, Kura." Marik walked over to Malik and leaned close to his ear.

He whispered something too quietly for anyone to hear except for Malik. And he heard.

He shot up into a sitting position, unfolding his arms in the process and slapping the two people on either side of him in the face as he screamed "NO I AM NOT!"

The slap knocked Bakura off of the rock, and he fell with his legs at some odd angles to each other, which would have hurt a lot more if he wasn't so naturally flexible. Meanwhile, Marik was pushed against the wall, which he hit with his back first instead of his head and slid to the floor.

Malik twisted around to see what had just happened. He saw Marik first and cried "Why are you on the floor what just happened?!"

"You slapped us you idiot!" Marik shouted at him, holding his now-red cheek.

"Us?" Malik twisted the other way and saw Bakura lying on the ground with one of his legs up against the rock.

Malik started laughing at him. "Whatever I just did, I'm glad I did it! Ha!"

Ryou was also laughing quietly at the sight of Bakura having been slapped, accidentally or not, across the face. Truth be told, he sometimes wanted to do that himself. But this would have to do.

Then he noticed that Bakura wasn't moving. Ryou's smile faded and he rushed to Bakura's side. "Oh no! Yami are you alright?"

"Ugh..." Bakura lifted a hand and pushed him away a bit. "Go away. I'm fine, host."

Ryou frowned deeply at the word 'host'. "Fine, then," he said somewhat coldly as he stood up. "I'll be waiting in the room. Outside of the Triangle, I mean."

Since he and Bakura shared a body, he knew that it was safe to leave from his room. So without leaving his yami's soul room, Ryou dematerialized from the Triangle and returned to his body.

Bakura, Malik, and Marik watched him go silently. Then they turned to each other.

Malik and Marik were thinking something along the lines of _Okay...that was weird _while Bakura was thinking, _What's with him? Since when does he use that tone with me?_

Then they all simultaneously decided to pretend like that didn't happen for the moment.

"Marik what the hell was that for?!" Malik shouted at his hikari.

"I was trying to wake you up," Marik said simply. "You were sleeping on Bakura's leg. Ryou and I came to tell you two that our meeting is over."

"Oh. Did... Nevermind. I'll ask you later. You took notes and stuff right? For tomorrow?"

"Ryou did."

"Ah. That's good. Bakura, we...should probably get going now. See you tomorrow." Malik slid off the rock and grabbed Marik's arm to help him up, then led him out of the Bakuras' hallway and into their own without another word.

Bakura blinked in surprise as he watched them leave, again thinking, _What's with him?_

_Why is everyone acting so weird?_

* * *

_~In Marik/Malik's soul room~_

"I totally was _not_ spooning him!"

"Again! Never said you were. You were just lying on his leg. That's all. And then you shot up and you slapped us on the way up. That really hurt, you know!" Marik rubbed his cheek again. It _still_ hurt.

"I don't care. Consider that payback. And that was a dirty trick you pulled. Did he or Ryou hear you say that?"

"No. What's the matter, Malik?" Marik asked with a semi-evil smirk on his face. "Are my assumptions true and you really do like mmmphhggphhmmmph!"

Malik had grabbed Marik's head and held a hand over his nose and mouth. "Shut up. And no comment."

Marik struggled for a few more second until Malik let him go and stepped away. "Just say it, already! It's so obvious!"

Marik looked for some trace of a blush on his yami's face, but all he found was a small smirk. "And admit you like Bakura, already. It's been obvious since Battle City."

"Shut up! Stop talking about that!"

"Well then shut up and stop talking about Bakura and I when it's obvious that _you're _the one crushing on him!"

"Lies you tell! I totally ship you two!"

"What? You ship... You read _way_ too much manga!"

"And you're an idiot. How do you fall asleep on someone's leg?"

"Shut up."

"That's your only response?"

"No it's not. Make up your mind already! You say I like one and then the other...which is it?"

"Maybe you like both of them!"

Malik chose not to respond to that particular comment. "I'm going to get back at you for that little prank you pulled. You know that, right?"

Marik rolled his eyes and turned away from Malik. "Suuuree you will. Sure. I'm looking forward to that."

Malik smirked. _How lovely. He thinks I'm joking. Well he'll see..._

Marik turned to face him again. "And it wasn't a prank. It was just me trying to wake you up. Bakura kept complaining that his leg had fallen asleep and the meeting _is_ over, anyway."

"Are you still at Ryou's place?"

"How do you know that's where we are?"

"Bakura came back in and told me. He checked just before going to meet you three."

"How do you know about _that_? You were sleeping."

"He told me. So _are_ you?"

"We are."

"So why did we have to leave now! We could have left when you had gotten home!"

"I didn't think of that."

"Of course not."

"And _you_ were the one who suddenly dragged us out of there! Remember?"

"Oh just shut up. Go now. The others are probably waiting for you."

"Fine." Marik left their soul room and returned to his body.

* * *

_~Back in the game room~_

Yugi was already out when Ryou zoned back in. As Ryou resumed control of his body, his face took on an irritated look.

"You okay?" Yugi asked. "Did something happen?"

"What? Oh, hi, Yugi. No, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. What about you? You look a bit troubled."

Yugi hadn't even realized that his face was still showing his worry over Yami's sudden change in mood, and how he reacted to certain things in that room they'd found. "What? Oh no I'm fine! I'm just uh...you know. Worried about you."

"I told you. I'm fine. Stop asking."

"Oh...okay. Sorry."

"It's fine."

They looked at Marik's body, which was still, but breathing. Marik wasn't back yet.

"Why isn't Marik back? Wasn't he with you? Didn't you leave at the same time?"

"He should be out soon. Maybe." Ryou's face turned irritated again. "I came out straight from Bakura's soul room. Malik and Marik probably just got in their soul room. Don't forget the time difference. Ten minutes passed in there in the span of two minutes out here. I have no idea what it's like for Marik and Malik's hallway."

"Oh. Seems reasonable enough."

"I know. That's why I said it."

Yugi was about to question why he said that when they noticed Marik stirring. They turned to watch

Marik's face turned irritated and he opened his eyes. He sat up. "Hey, guys," he greeted them. "Everything all set?"

They decided not to ask about that irritated look on Marik's face because of the results of their own conversation about the looks on each others faces, so they kept quiet and nodded.

"Everything all set," Ryou replied. "Of course, don't forget to bring your Millenium Items and the notebooks I gave you."

"Right."

"Right."

They talked and joked as Marik and Yugi got ready to leave, greatly improving everyone's mood that they'd left the Triangle in.

"So see you guys tomorrow, then."

"Yes. We'll see you there."

"Right. Don't forget to text us!"

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

* * *

The moment he sensed the presence of their Millenium Items fade completely, Ryou went to his desk in his room and took something out from one of the drawers.

* * *

**_~Transition~_**

* * *

With nothing to do for the rest of the day, and bothering the Pharaoh surprisingly _not_ a particularly appealing idea at that moment, Bakura decided to go see what Ryou was up to.

He sat on the throne in the back of the room, closed his eyes, and concentrated hard on their body, specifically their eyes.

A few moments later, he was looking through Ryou's eyes, undetected. He could only look in whatever direction Ryou was looking at, so he couldn't look around. Only forward.

At that moment, Ryou was watching the tip of his pencil glide carefully across the paper underneath it.

_How boring_, Bakura thought as he watched his hikari write. _Another letter to Amane. "RYOU!"_

"AH!" Ryou jumped in his seat and accidentally pressed too hard on the pencil, breaking the point. He whipped around to face his dark, but the spirit wasn't there. That only could mean that Bakura was watching from within his soul room. "Y-yes, Bakura?" he asked aloud, not liking the tone of voice Bakura had just used. The voice his yami used when he was in trouble.

_"Why are you writing...You know what? Never mind about that. Aren't you supposed to be texting Yugi and Marik about where the next meeting is?"_

Ryou faced forward again and stared at his broken pencil. He sharpened it again as he talked. "Yes. But I don't have to do it now. I'll do it later, when I'm done writing this."

Bakura resisted the urge to ask why his hikari was "writing this" and instead chose to address the teen's attitudeearlier.

_"So...about earlier."_ His voice seemed to grown a bit dark and cold, and he made sure that it was obvious toRyou. _"Since when do you talk to me like that?"_

"Like what?" Ryou asked in an innocent voice.

_"That tone you used earlier. Your voice was...cold and spiteful. Never heard you talk like that to anyone. Even me. What happened in there with Malik?"_

Ryou sighed and decided to start answering in his mind instead of out loud. "It wasn't Malik. It was you. Could you please stop calling me your 'host'. It-"

_"What? Does the term _still_ unsettle you? Well, get over it. Because that's what you are to me. You're my host. And even so, there's no reason to get so agitated about it. Don't talk like that to me. You know better... Don't you, _host_?"_

Ryou gulped. "Yes, Spirit."

Ryou had finished sharpening his pencil, so he immediately went back to writing.

_I hope he didn't just ruin this for me..._

* * *

The text finally came from Ryou an hour later. Yugi, Yami, Marik, and Malik read it.

They now had the time and place for their next meeting.

Everything was set...

* * *

**In case you were wondering this...  
Yes. There were a _lot_ of abridged references/jokes/concepts in here, such as drinkshipping (Marik X Icecubes), "Tea Attack", the "It's 'Monster Reborn' not 'Reborn the Monster'" thing, and unnecessary amounts of British. See if you can find them all! It was totally intentional. As a joke. Because I love YGOTAS. It got me into this show. The first YGO related thing I ever laid eyes on (after Yugi's hair loooong ago in my childhood I can't even remember,) was Leather Pants. So yeah...this is a tribute to Little Kuriboh (AKA Martin Billany). THANKS! (After you're done reading this AN, go stalk his ff.n profile. Of course, he does thiefshipping. Go bother him tee hee hee!)  
However, Ryou having tons of fangirls isn't an abridged idea. It's original canon. I think Yugi and Ryou are the only two YGO characters that have in-show/manga fangirls. **

**Sorry about splitting it up. But it just seemed like a good place to do it. And a good thing I did. Otherwise you wouldn't have had anything from the part A of it and had to wait even LONGER. Next part is the mass meeting, for sure. Hopefully, the wait for that won't be as long.**

**Next chapter: PART 2: Chapter 5- Mass Yami-Hikari Meeting  
~All six of them meet up and talk about the past two days, and make some new discoveries.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	14. P2, C5A: The Mass Meeting

**I spilt this chapter in 2 because, like the last meeting, it was VERY long and I probably wouldn't have finished it in time for you to get THIS part here. So instead of making you wait several weeks for the whole thing, I'm giving you the finished product of 1/2 of it. It's better than nothing. **

**At the time of this chapter's site-editing, I had more of next chapter done than this one. Well... They're pretty much the same at this point. Sort of. Basically, I had nothing past the Mind Crush typed out from this, and at the same time I had nothing past Marik asking if someone heard (not a spoiler, you'll only understand when we get there) in the next chapter.**

**Hikari Marik is 'Marik'. Yami Marik is 'Malik' (probably should be obvious by now). Hikari Bakura is 'Ryou', (sometimes called 'Bakura'). Yami Bakura is 'Bakura', (sometimes called 'Yami' by Ryou or 'Touzoku' by Malik). Hikari Yugi is 'Yugi'. Yami Yugi is 'Pharaoh' or 'Yami'.  
This part is being erased, and won't be here next chapter. Because you should know this by now and not keep needing reminders. Just like you shouldn't need to keep being reminded about the prologue, which you'd better have read by now. If not, here's some motivation and/or a good reason for you: later on in the story, you will have to understand what happen in the last few events of escape in order to understand something in part 4.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 5A.  
Had to split it because it's going to be long, but I don't want you to wait too long for this part of it. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Part A  
**/\ The Mass Meeting /\

* * *

Yugi, Ryou, and Marik left at exactly 12PM. Yugi told his Grandpa and Marik told Ishizu when they were leaving so that they wouldn't worry. Ryou didn't have anyone to answer to, and just left his apartment.

Of course, Yugi and Ryou took their Millenium Items with them (not that they ever took them off except for sleeping and showering) and Marik made sure that he brought the Rod with him, making sure it was securely tucked into one of the belt loops of his pants.

Their faces were serious as they prepared to leave. For some reason, they decided to take their dueling decks with them. None of them quite understood what compelled them to do this, but they didn't question it. Marik and Yugi brought the notebooks that Ryou had given them yesterday, while Ryou made sure to bring the one he had taken notes in.

They all headed for the one place they knew they would never be bothered by _anyone_ ever: the school roof.

* * *

_**~Transition~**_

* * *

During school hours, it was a place for students to hang out who needed privacy, had a free period, or for any other reason you could think of. But the rest of the time, on weekends and during school breaks, it was taken for granted much less used for more important things, such as a Domino High student trying to hide from a gang member or someone trying to get back into the school to retrieve an item they had left. Despite its accessibility during school hours, not many, if any at all, students used it after school hours. Few knew how to get up there when the building was closed, and fewer still did it anyway.

But Yugi and all of his friends who were students here: Joey, Tristan, Téa, Ryou, Marik, Duke, and even Kaiba (a few times), used the school roof as a meeting or hang out or confrontation spot.

There were some good and bad memories attached to the place for all three of them.

Yugi and Marik went the normal way, the way everyone else used. Bakura wanted to have fun, so Ryou let him take over and scale the side of the building to get up to the fenced-in rooftop spot. As soon as they were up, Ryou took over again.

Marik and Yugi met each other on the way up, while Ryou waited for them outside.

The door opened and Marik and Yugi stepped outside into the roof. They noticed Ryou already there. Knowing them slightly better than Yugi, Marik knew that Bakura had probably helped him climb up. Yugi didn't question how he had arrived there.

They realized that they sort of matched. They hadn't wasted too much time thinking about their wardrobe. All of them simply wore jeans and a plain black T-shirt. The differences were that Ryou's jeans were bleached and he wore his light blue over shirt, Yugi's jeans were blue and he wore his school jacket over his shirt, and Marik's jeans were navy blue and his shirt was tucked in.

They all walked wordlessly towards each other and ended up right in the center of the roof area in a triangle two feet away from each other. Ryou's back was facing the city, Marik and Yugi's backs were turned towards the door leading back to the school, Yugi was to his right and Marik was to his left.

"Hi, guys," they each greeted the other two hikaris in unison.

Everyone was silent for the next minute or so.

During this time, the hikaris informed their yamis that they had arrived, which the yamis already knew.

A moment later, the Pharaoh materialized behind Yugi, Bakura materialized behind Ryou, and Malik materialized behind Marik. For once, Malik actually wore the same thing as Marik. The yamis nodded at the other two in a silent and formal greeting. They made the effort to make themselves as visible as possible. They were still slightly transparent, but not as much as they usually were.

The hikaris sat down. Their yamis sat down to their right, sitting the same distance from the hikari on either side of him, also two feet away from the other darks and also in the shape of a triangle.

The six of them now sat in a perfect regular hexagon.

And so began the fourth general and second official combined meeting of the yamis and hikaris about their Triangular Soul Hallway.

* * *

"So," Bakura said in a sarcastic tone. What a nice way to start off. "Who's brilliant idea was it to meet here instead of the Triangle?"

"Mine," Ryou replied. "Remember? We can go there later, but I figured it would be a good idea for our bodies to be somewhere isolated and private so that no one would disturb them while they're unattended. We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened with Marik on Wednesday where Ishizu freaked out to see us unconscious. Besides, I like it up here. And also I think we should give the Triangle a break from meetings and not bother trying to figure out who's hallway or soul room to meet in. This place is the best choice."

"So," Yugi said, "Let's get right to the meeting!" He flipped to a page in his notebook. "So what we plan to do here is-"

"Who put you in charge?" Malik interrupted.

The Pharaoh smirked. "I did. The Millenium Puzzle is the ultimate Item and I'm the Pharaoh so Yugi and I should be in charge."

"Yami!" Yugi cried. "That's not the reason why! I don't think that way at all!"

"I'm kidding, Yugi. The real reason is because no one else called it. It just seems appropriate. Go on Yugi, with what you were saying."

"Right. As I was saying, we all plan to discuss what we found out during our separate meetings, share out the powers of our Millenium Items, share out the different phenomenon we found out about the Triangle and our soul rooms/hallways, and come up with a plan of action for Saturday."

The Pharaoh continued for him. "I suggest that we do everything in that exact order. We can meet up in the Triangle for the second and third things, then come back out here to talk about the last thing."

Marik decided to keep notes in his notebook during the whole meeting, since he planned to say the least. (You would expect Ryou would be the one to say the least, right?)

Ryou decided to speak up. "So who wants to go first?"

"I think we should," Bakura said, "because we have less to share out since I brought you three in during the middle of our meeting." Bakura was talking about the yamis' meeting. What he said was true. They _would_ have less to share out.

"Alright then..." Malik said. "I acted as the group recorder. We found out three major things. Of course, soul switching thing, courtesy of Puff..." Bakura chose to ignore the nickname. "...and two other things. I'll tell you the most shocking one first. The other four Millenium Items have sensed this situation and are now involved in it."

"WHAT?!" the lights all cried with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Ryou said, putting a hand on the Millenium Ring.

"He means," the Pharaoh replied, "that the Millenium Eye, Key, Scales, and Necklace all 'know' about the linking of our three Items and minds. Those four Items are now trying to get fully involved in this situation and will do anything to reverse it and restore everything back to its normal balance. Malik realized that this is why Ishizu keeps having visions about it and why the Necklace keeps calling out to her."

Bakura continued. "We realized this means that anyone with a Millenium Item would unwillingly use its powers constantly when they are around us. Meaning that Pegasus would be constantly reading our minds if he was near us, Odion would constantly be roaming the Triangle and investigating our soul rooms, and the Scales would constantly be trying to weigh our minds and hearts. It's why Ishizu keeps having visions about us. The Items want answers and they want order."

"But they are _items_, aren't they?" Ryou asked with uncertainty. "Aren't they inanimate?"

"They are, but they do have...consciousnesses. Sort of. It's the same presence of mind that they use to 'choose' the souls who are worthy enough to wield them and locate and interact with other items and the Shadow Realm."

"Why haven't our items done the same?" Marik asked with an extremely confused expression in his face. Then he shook his head and slapped himself lightly. "Oh wait... Stupid me. It's because..."

"Because our items _are_ the source of the disturbance," the Pharaoh finished for him. "Of course they _are_ trying to find balance and separate our minds. They are actually calling out to the other Items for help and to try to make sense of this situation. But being, as you said, Bakura, inanimate items, they can't actually do much about it and can only guide and assist those who wield them. In the exact same way that Ryou and Yugi are vessels for Bakura and I, the three of you are vessels for the Items."

"Uh... This won't cause like...the collapse of reality or a break in the barrier between the Shadow Realm and the real world, right?" Yugi asked nervously. "Because that... I don't even want to think about it."

"Then don't," Bakura said to him, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice or face. "Simple."

"Yeah... But still..."

"No. No 'but still'. Just don't worry about it. That's our job." Bakura's eyes lit up for a moment. "So _that's_ why you gave the task to us and not them!" he said to the Pharaoh.

The Pharaoh nodded. "Yes. We don't need them worrying about these things that are too big for them to handle."

"Right," Malik agreed.

"Oh wait..." Bakura said. He counted something silently on his fingers. "Malik, you were wrong. There were five things. Not three."

"You're both wrong," the Pharaoh said to him. "There were four."

"No, there were five," Bakura insisted.

"No, four."

"Five."

"Four.

"Five."

"Bakura!"

"What?!"

"There. Were. _Four_." The Pharaoh gave him a stern look.

A silent message seemed to pass between the two ancient spirits, before Bakura backed off and finally said, "You're right. It was four."

"Wow, Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed. "Did you just admit that the Pharaoh was right?!"

"Shut up," was all the thief said in response.

"So, Malik, next thing, please."

"Right." Malik continued. "The next thing is that we can actually fight an Item against itself in the Triangle. Don't say anything and let me explain. If we were to go in the Triangle, all six of us, there would be two of each Millenium Item, right? Two Puzzles, two Rods, two Rings. So Bakura decided to get the Millenium Rod from Marik while he was sort of knocked out during the soul swap incident and later showed it to us once the three of you had left. He and I were actually able to have a little battle with the Rods."

"It was extremely amusing to watch," the Pharaoh cut in. "Not just an Item against itself, but also the way the two of them fight."

"Shut up, Pharaoh," the other two darks snapped at him.

"So," Malik continued, "the two items can do everything that they can do outside of our minds, and can do it to each other. We also did this to test out some of the Rod's abilities. But we didn't learn anything new."

"The last thing," the Pharaoh said, "will be explained by me. It has to do with the volcano."

"Because it's his fault."

"Stop saying that!" Ryou and Pharaoh yelled at him.

"You do realize that I only keep saying that because it annoys you two, right?"

"I do," the Pharaoh admitted. "But stop saying it anyway. It's annoying."

"I just said that that's the point."

The Pharaoh started ignoring him. "So we all are probably wondering how this could have happened so easily. It was pretty much caused by the heat of the lava when we were too close to it. But if that is he case then you would think that the same thing could happen if we simply held our items together over an open flame and let them melt together on purpose. But, apparently, that didn't work."

"Apparently?" Ryou repeated.  
"Didn't?" Marik echoed.

_I was hoping they wouldn't notice that..._ the Pharaoh thought.

Bakura and Malik suddenly looked suspicious.

And the hikaris noticed.

"What happened, Yami?" Yugi asked him expectantly. Marik and Ryou turned to him as well. They had slightly disapproving expressions on their faces. They had a feeling that they weren't going to like want they were about to hear. _If_ the Pharaoh decided to say it.

The Pharaoh started feeling uncomfortable. "Will you three stop looking at me like that!" he cried. "If anything, glare at them!" He pointed to Bakura and Malik, who were trying to stay as unnoticeable as possible. They even tried to become more transparent.

"Bakura..." Marik said. "What did you and Malik do?"

Bakura and Malik exchanged glances. Then they sighed.

"Fine," Bakura said. He looked away and answered calmly. "While you four were doing whatever you were doing in the Triangle, Malik and I decided to... Experiment a bit."

"With what?" Ryou asked.

Bakura continued, still not meeting anyone's gaze except for occasionally Malik's, in a calm and casual voice. "Well, we wanted to see if it was the heat of the lava or something special about the place we were in that did the trick. So we simply held the Millenium Ring and Millenium Rod above an open flame to see if they would melt together."

"ARE YOU TWO INSANE?!" Everyone shouted. Even the Pharaoh.

"You just said that you figured out that it wouldn't work!" he shouted. "You didn't tell me you purposely tried to _melt_ them together."

"We didn't!" Malik insisted. "We were trying to prove that they _wouldn't_ melt together. Which they didn't."

To Bakura, Yugi said, "Bakura, you need to stop with your little 'experiments'. One of these days you're going to seriously mess something up. Or someone."

"What? I don't get credit for almost destroying you all as well?" Malik asked, faking a look of hurt.

"Yeah, you too!"

"Guys, please stop arguing!" Ryou cried. "We all need to stop blaming each other for this because it's not getting us anywhere and all it's really doing is wasting time, setting us back and distracting us!" Everyone stared silently at him. He blushed from the sudden attention. "So um... Malik... What were you saying?"

"I..." he started to say. He stared at Ryou one last time. "...wasn't saying anything. Bakura was. Bakura?"

"Erm..." Bakura was also looking at Ryou, slightly concerned and also slightly surprised that he was feeling concerned. "I was going to say that I knew it wouldn't work. And that's what Malik was saying as well. No harm done. Right?"

"That's not what bothers me," Yugi said to him. "What bothers me is the idea that you _could_ have messed something up and it would have been your fault. What if-"

"Yugi," the Pharaoh interrupted. "Calm down. They're doing these kinds of things to try to find answers about our Triangular Hallway. I understand that they need to be cautious, but at least nothing happened with this experiment and now we know. Understand?"

Yugi nodded and calmed down, and let it go. He remembered what he had been thinking two days ago about how Ryou and Marik knew Bakura better than he did. Apparently everyone knew Bakura better than he did. But no one knew the Pharaoh better than he did. At least that was something, right?

"So anyway," Malik said conclusively, "That's pretty much it. We spent the rest of the time arguing and talking with you three."

"Any questions?" Bakura asked, when in truth he couldn't care less if they had questions and would just let Malik or the Pharaoh answer them.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good. Now I believe it is the hikaris' turn?"

Marik, Yugi, and Ryou exchanged glances. They nodded.

"Right," Marik said. "Malik, you take notes now."

"What the hell?! No! I took notes already. And besides, how do you expect me to take notes when I'm kinda in spirit form over here? Can't pick up the damn book. Obviously."

"I was joking."

"Sure you were."

"And even so, don't be lazy. I know for a fact that you are a great note taker."

"No one pays me to the be the group recorder."

"We shouldn't have to. And besides, since you almost ruined our Millenium Items and maybe almost hurt Bakura, you should make up for it by helping out during the meeting."

"My presence alone is helping. And he's fine _and_ is the one who suggested it. (***something inaudible***!)"

Marik gasped loudly and gave Malik a death glare. "You did _not_ just say that!"

"I did." The yami expected his hikari to start blushing, but no such thing happened.

"Why would you EVEN SAY THAT?!" Marik cried angrily at him. He stood up and looked down on Malik, fists clenched and his arms tense at his sides.

"Because I felt like it. And I told you I would get back at you for yesterday. Problem, Marik?"

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT!"

"Well I did. What are you going to to about it?"

Everyone stared awkwardly at the two of them arguing. Or rather, Marik arguing and Malik just answering back smugly.

Marik picked up his notebook and pencil, put the pencil to the paper, and held it there.

Then all of a sudden, in a switch that rivaled some of Yugi and the Pharaoh's, the two of them switched places. Now Malik was standing up and Marik was sitting down, glaring up at him. Then Marik stood up again.

"I'll think of something," he said before disappearing.

Malik's eyes widened. "Marik, wait!" he cried, but it was too late. Marik was gone.

He turned to the other's, who were glaring at him.

"Looks like you're taking notes," Bakura said to him.

"Hmph," Malik said, glancing down at the items in his hands. "You're not even going to question what I just said?" he asked Bakura.

"Well, yes," Bakura said. "Seeing how we couldn't hear you. What did you say to him?"

"I just said something to him mentally, and made it look like I said it aloud. That's all. He freaked out."

"Malik how could you?!" Ryou cried, jumping to his feet. "We needed Marik for some of what we were about to say! Why would you do that to him?"

"Hey! I didn't do anything. I just said one little thing, made one little joke, and he had to act like a drama queen and storm out of here like I just announced on live television that he was cheating on his spouse. He is so over-dramatic! He needs to pull himself together and get back here for when you need him. He doesn't even realize that none of you heard it. Don't blame me."

"Well whatever you said obviously bothered him a lot and you obviously knew that! So why did you say it?"

"Was just a joke."

"I dont care!"

"Oh shut up, Ryou! You said yourself that we need to stop arguing and-"

"You don't get it, Bakura. Malik just crossed a line, and we need Marik..."

"I'm sure you'll do fine without him. Now go on."

Ryou sighed. He lowered his head and his face darkened, but he relaxed and sat down.

"Malik... Is he in his soul room? I want to at least know of he's paying attention. He can see what's going on from there, right? Just..."

"I don't know. I don't know if he can see out and I'm not sure if he's in there anyway."

"Just move on without him, I guess," Bakura said with a sigh. "Ryou. Yugi. Go ahead."

The two hikaris sighed, and Yugi suddenly became nervous about Marik not being there. He was the only one able to tolerate Bakura _and_ keep Malik in check. Of course they had the Pharaoh to do the latter for them and Ryou to fo the former. But still...

"Fine," Ryou said. "I'll start. I took notes the whole time. We talked a bit about what we had figured out earlier that day. The best things we came up with were keys to lock our doors, literally, and locked-up bookshelves to store information and keep it hidden. Anyone with enough skill and experience could get in, but with these two things in place everything should be safe. In order to do these things, Bakura, you will have to help us. Because you know that I have absolutely no idea how."

"Fine," the yami replied with a sigh.

"Wait...seriously? You will?"

"Sure why not? I'll do it. It's for my benefit as well and it's a perfect opportunity for me to show off to the rest of you how much I really know."

"Okay then! Great."

"Can we get to the part about what everyone can do in their soul rooms?" Yami asked. "That's what I'm most interested in."

"I thought you were most interested in keeping me and Bakura out?" Malik said.

"I was. Now I know there's a solution. So next I want focus on exactly who can do what in the Triangle."

"Makes sense," Bakura said. "And then the Millenium Item powers next? Or should we talk about our Millenium Items first?"

They took a vote on that. Malik, Bakura, and Yami all voted for Millenium Items first. The two remaining hikaris voted for soul room abilities first. Majority ruled, so they would talk about the Millenium Items first.

Ryou, Yugi, and Malik all stood up. Bakura and the Pharaoh were worried for their hikaris and how they would fare against Malik, and they weren't the ones who had studied the Items anyway, so they took over.

"So..." Bakura said. "...are we going to do it here or in the Triangle?"

"The nature of our soul hallways in the Triangle might have an impact on how the Items work, so that wouldn't be an ideal place to do it."

"The Rod worked perfectly fine in your soul room, Pharaoh."

"Good point. Still, let's just play it safe and do it out here. If anything goes awry, it won't have any effect on our soul rooms."

"That's a good point as well. Who should start?" As he asked this, Bakura looked at Ryou. He was actually a bit uneasy about the fact that he would be teaching his hikari about the powers of the Millenium Ring. It wasn't that he was afraid that Ryou would try to use those powers against him, it was just that he didn't really want Ryou to know about them in the first place.

"I will," Malik announced. He walked a few feet away. He used the pencil as a bookmark when he closed the notebook, then tossed it to Bakura. "Catch," he said after he threw it.

Luckily, Bakura had good reflexes and caught he small notebook with one hand. "Thanks for warning me," Bakura said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Malik said just as sarcastically. "So...let me start. Can I have a volunteer?"

"You mean a test subject?!" Ryou suddenly cried out somewhat angrily. When the others turned to him, he blushed and said shyly, "Erm...sorry about that. I really need to stop doing that."

They turned back to Malik. "So..._do_ I have a volunteer? For some of them, I might need to do a demonstration..." he said as he took the Rod in his hands. He smirked at Ryou, who shrank back a bit and gulped.

"No," the Pharaoh said sternly. "There will be _no_ volunteers for anything. We're not going to test out any of the Items' abilities on anyone, only explain what they are and how they work. Malik, get back over here. If you must do a demonstration, do it on some inanimate object."

Malik sighed. "Fine." He walked back over to the other two yamis. "Wait then what the hell are we standing up for?"

"I- I am actually not sure. Why are you standing, Bakura?"

"I don't know. Because those two did." he pointed to Yugi and Ryou in turn. "Malik, why did _you_ stand up?"

"Because I thought I would get to do a demo but apparently not because you two are afraid I'm going to hurt somebody when you don't realize that I wouldn't even _dream_ of hurting any of them."

"If you even dream at all..." Bakura mumbled.

"I heard that! And I do, actually. I _am_ somewhat human."

"Keyword being 'SOMEWHAT'."

"There will be time to discuss exactly what Malik is later," the Pharaoh said to Malik and Bakura, earning a glare from the former. "Malik. Go ahead and tell us about the Millenium Rod."

"Fine. Let's get this over with. First things first... You all know about..." he removed the bottom part of the Millenium Rod and revealed its hidden blade, "_This_." Ryou and Yugi gasped loudly. They knew about this feature of the Rod, but we're still shocked to see it unsheathed.

"It can obviously control people's minds, that's what we all know it can do. It can also freeze people in place, do certain types of Shadow Magic, transfer souls from...body to body... I think that's all it can do that you people know about. Here's what you probably _don't_ know. Similar to how the Millenium Ring can locate other Millenium Items, the Millenium Rod can sense when other Items in the area have been activated."

"What?" Bakura said, clearly interested. He thought his Millenium Ring was the most connected to the other Items die to its ability to locate and sense them. But the Rod as well...?

Malik noticed that glint in Bakura's eyes, but didn't let on that he did. He continued speaking.

"It has the ability to tell when other Millenium Items in its vicinity are being used and, if close enough, occasionally what powers are being used."

"I'm starting to rethink my decision to stop hunting down the Millenium Items."

"You're joking, right?" the Pharaoh asked him.

He would usually follow that up with a sarcastic "No. I'm not. I am 100% serious", but he didn't feel like being particularly sarcastic at the moment.  
So instead he said, "No. I am not."

"You'd better be joking."

"Well if I'm not, then too bad."

"Hm."

"Just try, Touzoku, and see what happens."

"Just keep talking about whatever you were talking about!"

"No. That's about it. I can't do any demonstrations so..."

"Wait!" Yugi suddenly cut in. "I got an idea. Since the Ring and Rod apparently have locating abilities, we can test those out by having our Millenium Items try to identify each other!"

"That's a good idea, Yugi," the Pharaoh said. "But it would be better if we knew what all the items can do before we try testing anything out. Bakura? I believe it is your turn."

Bakura nodded. "Why me, though?" he asked. "Why not you?"

The Pharaoh grinned at him. "Saving the best for last."

That earned him an eye roll from Bakura. "Whatever. Malik!" He tossed the notebook back to Malik.

Malik looked at the page. "Did you even take notes?" He asked, noticing that none of what he said was written on he page.

In response, Bakura held up Ryou's notebook. "Don't forget that I have one, too. Why would I need yours?"

"For convenience," Ryou answered him. His yami turned to look at him as he explained. "I took notes the whole time during our meeting, even what I was saying, and let Marik and Yugi copy it down later. And I bet Malik did the same. If we have one notebook with everything written in it, we can just copy the notes later."

"Hm... Didn't think of that. But we can take our own notes, can't we?"

"I've been doing that," the Pharaoh said, holding up Yugi's notebook. "Now one notebook will have all of the notes from one meeting for the others to copy down."

"Wait a moment! I just realized something!" Ryou suddenly cried out. "Malik, if you were able to take notes in the meeting and you have that here, does that mean that..."

"No, it doesn't," Bakura interrupted. "He memorized the notes and wrote them down in the notebook you gave him yesterday."

"When was this?"

"How would you know that?" Malik asked Bakura.

"I guessed. You probably did it while Marik was sleeping. Speaking of him..." Bakura looked around, as if Marik was somewhere around them being invisible. _What _did_ Malik say?_ he wondered to himself. "Malik. Do you have any idea where he is?"

"I don't. He's either blocking me or I simply can't sense him."

"Oh. What _did_ you say to him?"

"None of your business. I plan to tell him later that no one else heard me."

"Later meaning tomorrow?" Bakura said with a grin.

Malik grinned back. "Exactly." To Ryou and Yugi, he said, "You two, don't tell him before I do!"

"Uh...Oh...kay?" Yugi said. Ryou just nodded once.

"Good."

"So what were we just about to do?" Bakura asked.

"You," the Pharaoh said, "were about to tell us what the Millenium Ring can do."

"Right. I was. Ahem." He cleared his throat before speaking and turned to face everyone. "I'll start with what we already know. It has the ability to act as a compass. Actually. Sometimes, to myself, I call it the 'Millenium Compass', because the navigational compass gives direction, while the compass used for mathematics is sharp and can stab you if you aren't careful." He purposely looked at Ryou when he said this, attempting to and succeeding in making the light a bit uncomfortable about the Ring. Again. "It can also locate other Millenium Items and interfere with their abilities. Which is how I was able to stop Marik's Shadow Game between Yugi and Bandit Keith, and how I was able to place a part of my soul in the Millenium Puzzle. It has the power to transfer people's souls from their bodies to inanimate objects such as figurines...or cards. Now what you people _don't_ know..."

"Tell them the truth, Bakura," Ryou said before he could continue.

"I was going to," Bakura said to him.

"No you weren't. I could tell. You were going to make up something so that no one knew what it could _really_ do."

"Who asked you?" Bakura asked with a glare.

"No one. I read your mind, like you do so often to me at the most annoying times."

"It can be used as a shield, both physically and magically, if you know how to do it. Some of the other powers of the Ring are a bit complicated and are better explained through demonstration. So if you don't mind, I'd like to stop here and finish explaining in the Triangle."

"I...am a bit wary of what exactly you plan to demonstrate, but I guess I'll let you do that. If there aren't any side effects like those from two days ago." He looked pointedly at Ryou and Yugi before turning back to Bakura.

It was obvious to everyone what he was reffering to. But unlike everyone else, Bakura knew that the Pharaoh's words served as a warning to him, and not just a reminder. But he wouldn't really take it seriously. He never took any of the Pharaoh's threats seriously. " Fine," he said. "I won't do anything harmful to our hikaris. Now," he said to transition, "you wanted to save 'the best for last', as you put it. So now you're last. Tell us about your precious Millenium Puzzle, Pharaoh."

The Pharaoh glared at Bakura long and hard. "I'm doing this for all six of us, not for you. So I hope that you've been tellling the truth about having given up your hopeless plan to steal my Puzzle. Because whatever you plan to test out later based on what I'm about to tell you four, it won't happen."

"I wasn't lying. There's really no point in stealing it anymore."

"...I...don't know whether to believe you or not."

Bakura smirked. "That's the idea."

The Pharaoh glared at him one last time before starting to address the whole group. "The Millenium Puzzle... Well..." He put a hand on his item and closed his eyes. "It is said to be the more powerful of the Items. I would disagree and say that the Ring is most powerful, but even I don't know all of the Puzzle's powers. But I do know this much." With his eyes still closed, he counted off the powers on his fingers. "It can, as Bakura knows, put a soul back into its original body. And I'm not sure if this is a power of the Puzzle, or just a result of our relationship which is a _much_ better one than the four of you have, but it allows Yugi and I simultaneous control or consciousness of our body and minds. We can actually control the same body part at the same time. The Puzzle can sometimes sense danger or traces of Shadow Magic or the Shadow Realm itself. And, again I don't know if this is just us or because of the Puzzle, but we are sometimes transferred to our soul rooms while we're sleeping, if we're restless enough."

"Happens to me too sometimes," Ryou mumbled.

"So never mind then. And there's one power I'm sure that all of us know all too well." With a smirk, he looked at Bakura, then walked directly in front of him, standing two arms lengths away.

"What are you...?"

"I believe the Millenium Puzzle also gives me the power to MIND CRUSH!" He raised his arm at Bakura dramatically, as if he was Mind Crushing him.

"AAAH!" Bakura's eyes widened and he jumped, then he fell backwards, landing painfully on the ground on his back. "Ow..."

"Kidding!" The Pharaoh burst out laughing and even had to hold his side from laughing so hard. He was even crying a bit. "Oh my Ra! Your face! Hahahaha! It was priceless! Oh, if only you had seen it! I can't believe that actually scared you!" His laughing eventually died down and he opened his eyes to find the other spirit sitting up and shooting at him with his eyes. "I'm sorry... That was just too priceless and precious an opportunity to pass on! That was hilarious."

Bakura noticed that Yugi, Malik, and Ryou were either giggling or snickering behind their hands. He looked at the Pharaoh and unknowingly blushed. _Why does he, of all people, have to be the one to embarrass me and catch me off guard?_ he wondered.

Bakura suddenly noticed Ryou's hand near his face, poking his cheek. "Ryou...what the hell are you doing?"

Ryou smiled and giggled again. "You're blushing, yami."

"Wha-! No I'm not! Go away!" He tried to bat Ryou's hand away, forgetting that he was in spirit form. Of course, Bakura's hand went right through Ryou.

"Nice try," Ryou said with a smile.

"Go away."

Ryou poked his cheek one more time before returning to where he was originally sitting.

Bakura glared at the Pharaoh again.

The mocking look on the Pharaoh's face faded, and he held out his hand to his fellow yami. "Need help?"

Bakura eyed the hand uncertainly, but took it and allowed the Pharaoh to help him up. "Hmph. Thanks. I guess."

"You're welcome." The Pharaoh turned back to the rest of the group. "Now as I was saying, I _do_ believe that the Puzzle gives me the power to Mind Crush people..."

"Now I want to steal it even more. Not even steal it, just take it away from _you_. I trust you even less than I did five minutes ago."

"Do you really?" the Pharaoh asked.

Bakra thought about it. Then he sighed. "Just keep talking."

"Fine! I don't know all of the powers of the puzzle, but the main general power it seems to have is that of unity."

Bakura tried not to burst out laughing. It was almost as lame, to him, as "the power of friendship" was!

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes at Bakura. "Do you have a problem?"

Bakura stopped laughing. "Ahem. No. No problem here. Continue what you were saying."

"Well... That's about it. That's all I know."

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked. "I could have sworn there was one more."

"Well there isn't. If there was, I would know about it. Wouldn't I?"

Yugi looked into his yami's eyes, then nodded. He understood.

"So," Bakura said, "if everything is done out here, are we going into the Triangle now?"

"Not yet," Malik said. "First, I want to find out where Marik is."

"Do you mind waiting for me?" Ryou asked. "I'd like to go back inside and get some water. I'm thirsty."

"Are you?" Bakura asked him. "I haven't felt..."

"You always ignore what my body is feeling," Ryou responded to his unfinished sentence. "I'm thirsty. Switch out?"

With a grumble, Bakura agreed to switch out with his hikari.

Once Ryou had control of his body, he stood up and walked over to the door. He activated his Millenium Ring to help him find his way and also act as a source of light. "Be right back, everyone," he said as he opened the door and walked back inside.

The Pharaoh suddenly realized that Yugi was alone with three darks. That obviously was a bad thing. Or was it...this could be their test. A test to see if the three of them could control themselves around each other, especially when only one of the lights was around.

"You okay, Yami?" Yugi suddenly asked.

The Pharaoh blinked rapidly, not realizing that he had been staring at Yugi. "Uh...yes. I'm fine."

"I hope so... Anyway I have a question. Yesterday, the three of us were feeling like there was something important we had forgotten. Do you know what that was?"

The Pharaoh absent-mindedly looked over at Bakura and Malik, who were whispering to each other about something.

"No," he replied. "I have no idea what that could be."

"Well that's good. We had thought that it might be something that we forgot due to our soul swap from two days ago."

"Hm, it had better not be because of that..." the Pharaoh mumbled, remembering.

"Right..."

"Come on!" Bakura exclaimed. "Let that go already! You three ARE PERFECTLY _FINE_."

"You _did_ recover your short-term memory afterwards, right?" Malik asked. "I know Marik did."

"I did."

"And so did Ryou," Bakura said. "So whatever you feel like you're forgetting isn't my fault. Stop blaming be for everything!"

"We didn't _really_ blame you!" Yugi insisted. "We were just joking. It was actually Marik who had brought it up."

"Oh, and I assume that just because it was Marik who said it that makes the accusation okay!"

Just then, Yugi became aware of what Yami had been aware of: he was alone with the three darks.

"Hey, everyone, guess who I found!"

Everyone looked over at the doorway. The door was open and Ryou was standing in the doorway with Marik next to him. Marik's arms were folded and he still looked a bit irritated.

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. Just in time, before he had started panicking.

Malik smiled. "Nice of you to return."

Marik stuck his tongue at him.

Malik let his smile fade. "Really mature, Marik."

"Shut up."

"Apparently," Ryou said, "he was just sitting behind the door and listening. He heard everything that we were talking about, so he didn't miss out."

Malik wanted to ask them if Marik heard the thing about telling him tomorrow, but he would wait for Marik do mention it, just in case he _hadn't_ heard.

Marik glared at Malik and Bakura. But mostly Malik. Then he slowly walked back over to everyone and took his seat next to his yami.

"Marik..." Malik said. "How much did you hear?"

"Hmph. I ignored everything relating to whatever you said. Don't start me up again."

"Fine. I won't."

"Hmph."

"Stop that alr-"

"Okay, everyone," Yugi said. "Let's stay focused. We were talking about going into the Triangle now?"

"Yes," Ryou said. "It's a good thing I found you first, Marik. Because you said yesterday that you would be here today to explain something to us?"

"Oh right! I _did_ say that, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"So what are we waiting for?" Bakura said. "Let's go."

Everyone sat in their positions in the hexagon. By pure instinct, or maybe because the hikaris had always done this the previous times they went into the Triangle together, everyone touched the hands of the two people next to him. Then they all went in the Triangle together.

The hikaris faded away first.  
Then the yamis' eyes went blank.

* * *

**The "something inaudible" was this: **_"So shut up about how I almost killed your _boyfriend_!"_

**I tried referring to Yami as "the Pharaoh" for a chapter. It was a pain in the ass. Never again. I'm sticking to calling him "Yami". I'll keep calling him "Yami" again in the next chapter.  
Hope you don't mind me splitting the chapter again! But I'd rather not make you wait so long, like I did last time.**

**A note about how this whole story has been going and will go:  
Part 1 was introducing the plot in an unnecessarily numerous amount of chapters. Part 2 is pretty much a bunch or foreshadowing and setting up the standards and settings and outlines...Part 2 is mostly stuff so the readers- you guys- can understand how things are and work. It's mostly informations. Part 3 is where the drama and crazy stuff that's confusing happens. Part 4 is...well at first I had no idea what Part 4 would be until literally last Tuesdy. So...yeah. And also, yesterday, I figured out that there will be a part 5. Go me.  
I keep saying don't assume anything. Sorry if I'm messing with anyone's minds! Especially about the pairings. If you truly wish to know...It's OBVIOUS by now that there is thiefshipping in this. It's not easy to tell if it's one-sided yet, at this point, but it's there. Tendershipping...one of my favorite pairings. 2nd, right after thief. So you people are probably thinking, "knowing her, there's probably thief and tender shipping in here". I admit it. Yes.  
NO MORE HINTS! **

**Next chapter:  
PART 2: Chapter 5B- The Mass Meeting, In The Triangle  
~Everyone shares out about their soul rooms, and a plan of action is thought of for Sunday**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


	15. P2, C5B: Mass Meeting, In The Triangle

**Helloooooooooooo again! S****ORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT!  
I am not 100% sure that I've checked EVERYTHING over enough times, but I've made you wait long enough and I'll just go back and fix it later if I need to. In the meantime, enjoy this!**

**Prepare for a LOOOOOOONNNNGGGG chapter.**

**Glad this is getting so much popularity! It might be because the idea of mind links is interesting, or because I wrote it well (which means I shouldn't feel all that bad about part 1). But whatever the reason, thanks to everyone who has been here from the beginning and supported me, and thanks to all the newcomers who have taken interest! Everyone and every review, follow, and fave is highly appreciated! (^7^)**

** This time, I'm not typing ANY of this chapter on my iPod. It's going straight from my mind to the site. Should be fun. But that also means that I DIDN'T have any of this written beforehand. A first, so far, especially in this particular story. Let's see how it goes.  
What took up most of my time was the actual editing and piecing stuff together. The chapter is just that long. I feel like I might have missed some stuff because of that, but I think I've worked on it long enough that everything should be fine. If something seems to be missing or something doesn't line up or there is a contradiction somewhere, let me know.**

**This is Part 2, Chapter 5B.  
Had to split it because it was going to be long, and I didn't want you to have to wait so long for this half when the first half was already done. **

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Part B  
**/\ The Mass Meeting /\ In The Triangle /\

* * *

By pure instinct, or maybe because the hikaris had always done this the previous times they went into the Triangle together, everyone touched the hands of the two people next to him. Then they all went in the Triangle together.

The hikaris faded away first.  
Then the yamis' eyes went blank.  
The three notebooks faded away, as well.

* * *

For some reason, everyone went to the Mariks' hallway. Maybe it was because that was where their first talk about the Triangle occurred, the day that they found out about it. But whatever the reason, Yugi, Yami, Ryou, and Bakura instinctively went to that hallway before anything.

Marik had just stepped out, and Malik was in the doorway. Malik glared at the newcomers. "Why does it have to be here?" he asked them.

Everyone, including Marik, just shrugged.

Someone tapped Ryou's shoulder. He turned and saw Bakura holding something out to him. "Ry. You'll probably want this."

Ryou took the notebook with a nod. Then he facepalmed. "Oh no. Yugi, Marik, we forgot the notebooks outside! Well, obviously Bakura didn't forget to, but I'm sure the rest of you-"

"Ahem..." Yami said to get his attention. "Ryou?" When Ryou looked up, Yami and Marik held up Yugi's and Marik's notebooks. "We _did_ bring them with us. Why would you think we didn't?"

Ryou eyed the notebooks confusedly. "How did you..."

"They know how to do that, as well, hikari," Bakura told him. "I'm not the only one. I still don't know how _you_ managed to catch on. But nothing to be done about it now. You _did_ teach Yugi and Marik how to do that, right? How to bring items from the real world into one's soul room?"

"No," said lights replied in unison.

"Well that's just wonderful," Bakura said sarcastically. "What a lovely way to waste time-"

"Bakura, I'll teach Yugi how to bring items from outside into our soul rooms later," Yami offered. As he talked, he handed the notebook to Yugi. "And I'm sure that Malik will do the same with Marik. Right, Malik?"

Malik did the same; he handed the notebook to Marik. "Right," he said with a nod. "No problem."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever you want. I'm not wasting my time on them for that." Then he said quickly, "No offense, Marik."

"Hm. None taken, I suppose," Marik said with a small grin.

"And what about me?" Yugi asked jokingly.

"Hm...offense intended."

Instead of being offended, Yugi simply smiled. "It's okay. I still hate you, too."

"Hmph...well you're not fun."

"I know."

"Anyway..." Yami said to refocus everyone. "We should get started."

"Right," Yugi agreed.

Everyone sat down in a hexagon in the same arrangement they had been sitting in outside.

The meeting continued.

* * *

**AND SO THE MEETING BEGINS.**

**Try not to get confused or lost. A lot of stuff happens in this chapter, and I had trouble putting some of the parts in order. The line breaks should help. If not, tell me. (not like I'm really going to go back and change the whole bloody chapter just for you peoples XD) but anyway...**

**Ya. An AN here just to be a little transition (and also as like a page marker for me and you, so I know where stuff starts and ends, cuz it's bolded and easy to see and stuff)...**

**Anyway, back to the story!**

* * *

"Where should we start?" Yami asked. "Should we start with figuring some other things out about the Triangle, or do whatever we were planning to do with the Millenium Items?"

"I think we're done with that," Yugi reminded him. "Talking about the Items, I mean. So we should just figure out whatever else we can about the Triangle so we can get a better idea of what Ryou, Marik, and I have to do in it. I, for one, am wondering if it's possible to take-"

"Hold on just a second..." Bakura said. "Before you start, I'm sure that all of you have questions you want to ask and certain things you want to try out or know about, which is fine. But we need to be organized with it because there's a lot going on here and a lot to learn about the Triangle. Let's not start shooting out questions all over the place."

"Wow. Go you," Yami said slightly sarcastically, but with genuine approval. "Glad to see you taking charge and responsibility for once."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah. You probably think I'm so lazy and chaotic all the time, don't you. Well you forget, Pharaoh that it was I who organized and maintained and continuously stayed dedicated to my plan for revenge on you. I kept it up for 3000*** **years, never giving up and doing whatever I had to. You seem to keep forgetting that. I'm not lazy, I just don't feel like doing things sometimes unless I _want_ to do them. Don't forget that, Pharaoh. And don't forget that you were and might even still be the one my dedication is aimed towards. Remember that, Yami."

Yami was speechless. He didn't know how to respond.

Bakura smirked at his speechlessness and said, "Yeah. That's what I thought. Now shut up and let me finish."

Everyone else was speechless as well, and a bit dazed and in awe until Bakura started speaking again and re-focused their attentions on the matter at hand.

"Everyone should just write down what they think we should figure out first, then we'll decide what order to do them in."

"How are we going to do that?" Marik asked. "How are we going to choose and what if we have several-"

"Well, maybe we'll only pick a few to ask about..." Bakura suggested, interrupting Marik. "And we should write-"

"Hey!" Marik cut _him_ off, with a smile. "Bakuras Interuptas******."

Bakura laughed. "Oh my gosh. Are you _still_ saying that?! I thought you stopped saying that ages ago!"

"Nope. Apologize."

"Ugh. Sorry for interrupting. Oh, excuse me, I'll correct myself. Sorras for interruptas."

"I don't even..." someone mumbled.

The two of them turned to Malik.

"..."

"..."

"..."  
Awkward silence.

"...Problem, Malik?" Bakura asked at last.

"What the hell are you two talking about?"

"Inside joke," Marik explained. "Don't mind us. What were you saying, Bakura?"

"Right... I was saying that we should write down only three questions we have on paper, then pick from those to address, in order of convenience and ease."

"Sounds like an okay plan," Ryou said. "Should make things easier."

"Each pair should share a page to save space and paper," Yami suggested.

"Yes. That's fine. Okay, everyone write down three things then pass the papers to me."

"Why you?" Yugi asked.

"Because it was my idea, that's why. And also there might be some questions that I can answer on the spot if I already know the answer to them. Now everyone, write."

The hikaris turned to a blank page in their notebooks and started writing. When they were done, they passed the notebooks and pencils to their respective yamis (excluding Ryou and Bakura), who then started writing their three questions.

When everyone was done, they tore out the pages in the notebooks and passed them to Bakura. He took all three of them and started looking them over.

"Shouldn't you have also written three down, Bakura?" Ryou asked as Bakura read through. "I know that you don't know _everything_ about soul rooms and hallways and mind links. You may know a lot but you're not omniscient. Don't you also have questions about all of this?"

Bakura looked up for a moment. "I know enough. And I want to see if anyone has the same questions I do before asking them. Don't want to repeat anything. Now hush, I'm trying to concentrate..."

_How much concentration do you really need?_ Ryou wondered.

A moment later, Bakura looked up again. He addressed everyone.

"It seems that there was only one repeat. Everyone wrote down this one question: 'Is it possible to take the Millenium Items into the Triangle?' To answer your question..." Bakura looked down at the Millenium Ring hanging from around his neck, then at Ryou's. "I honestly don't know. I've never tried it before. With several millenia of jumping from host to host, you would think that I would have tried that by now. But apparently not..."

"Right," Yami said slowly. "We..." he glanced at the Millenium Puzzles he and Yugi were wearing, "...can figure that out later. What else did everyone ask?"

Bakura nodded once, then started reading out the questions.

Ryou wrote:  
"Is it possible to take over through one room in a hallway, then come back to the Triangle through the other room?"  
"If we look different when our darks take over, what about if the other darks take over instead?"

Yugi wrote:  
"Exactly how fast does time run in here compared to outside our minds?"  
"How do we communicate with the others in the Triangle?"

Marik wrote:  
"Is it possible for two of us to take over 1 body at the same time?"  
"Can we use the abilities we have in our soul rooms IRL?"

Yami wrote:  
"What would happen if we traded Millenium Items while in the Triangle? And if we tried to leave the Triangle like that?"  
"How would trading Millenium Items outside of the Triangle affect accessibility to it?"

Malik wrote:  
"Is it possible to take things OUT of the Triangle, the same way things can be brought INTO it?"

Bakura looked up and eyed Malik confusedly. "...Uh... Malik, why did you write only two?" Bakura asked him.

Malik shrugged. "Just because. Couldn't think of a third."

"It's fine. Not that important. We have enough questions here to answer. I can answer some of them right now, because I've either tried them before or I just know the answer. Everyone's first question was the same, so when I say first and second, I'm referring to the other two questions. I'll start with Malik.  
"To answer your question, Malik, no. It's obviously possible to take items into a soul room, but that comes with practice. It's even harder to take things out if they weren't already in the outside world first. Things in the real world can impact our soul rooms, so they are accepted into it easily (again, with practice). On the other hand, the items in our soul rooms do not affect the world outside our minds and don't have any connection to it, so they aren't as easily transferred into it, if they can be at all. I don't think it's possible.  
"The answer to Marik's first question is yes. But with conditions. I don't want to get into all of the conditions and technicalities, but basically it depends on which two people, how strong each person is at that instant, and how much control each person is trying to take. To answer your second question, no. Plain and simple. Do you really think I would have...well...lost so many times if that was possible? No. I would be ruling the world right now via the Shadow Realm and Zorc. I've tried, believe me.  
"To answer Yugi's second question, I can help all of you figure out how to do that, if you don't already know how. I'm sure we all know how to communicate with our respective partners, but we need to learn how to send mental messages across different rooms and hallways. Before that, it would be best we each learn how to sense and tell each other apart. Just like how I was able to sense that Ryou had locked himself in his soul room yesterday, we need to be able to sense each other and distinguish everyone's presences from each other. I can't exactly teach all of you how to do the latter. That will come with time, practice, and being around each other. It'll happen eventually. As of right now, I think we've spent enough time around each other to easily do the former, so all we really need to do is practice telling each others 'auras' apart. But in the meantime, we _should_ be able to send messages to each other and have two-way conversations with other members of the Triangle across this mind link, _with_ effort.  
"To answer Ryou's first question..." Bakura chuckled a bit. "You won't like this, probably, but the answer is yes. I've done it before. This, you might like: I've never done it with you. Ever."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Just like taking things from the outside world into a soul room, traveling between soul rooms through the body of those of that hallway is difficult because we automatically default to the soul room we took over from, but it can be done. I've done it before, but not many times. So I know how, but I don't do it often. This is going to be something I'll be reluctant to, but might have to, teach all of you how to do."

"Actually," Yami said, "it would probably be best if as few people as possible knew how. You knowing how won't really be a threat to security or anything like that, and there's no reason to show anyone else. Because I assume that no one will be getting into anyone else's rooms anyway."

"Ah yes...the keys and whatnot. I'd almost forgotten about that... Before we get to that, let me list out the questions we still have yet to answer..." He shuffled through the three pieces of paper in his hands, crossed out the questions that had been answered, and read aloud the ones that hadn't.

Ryou's unanswered question: "If we look different when our darks take over, what about if the other darks take over instead?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to answer that one. I don't think so. It's only because we have a bond, not just a connection. If you didn't look different when Yugi was in control of your body, which you didn't except for the eyes, then you won't look different of anyone else besides me takes over. Now as for the rest of the questions..."

Yugi's unanswered question: "Exactly how fast does time run in here compared to outside our minds?"  
Yami's unanswered questions: "What would happen if we traded Millenium Items while in the Triangle? And if we tried to leave the Triangle like that?" and "How would trading Millenium Items outside of the Triangle affect accessibility to it?"

"Pharaoh...you seem pretty interested in the Millenium Items," Bakura observed.

"Hm... Well there's a reason for that," he murmured in response.

"Which would be...?"

"I don't have to tell you. I just am, okay?"

"Okay. Fine by me. I was just wondering."

"Hold on!" Yugi shouted suddenly. "I just remembered something! Ryou!"

Yugi's voice was filled with such urgency that Ryou felt compelled to stand up when he said his name. "What is it?!"

"Remember two days ago? When we were soulswapped?"

"Oh. That." Ryou calmed down and sat down again. "Yes. I do. Why?"

"Didn't we trade Millenium Items on the way to Marik's place?"

"Oh! Ye- wait a minute yes I do remember that! We traded Items. But what does that-"

"Because I don't remember swapping back, and yet we still had our own Items when we went back into the Triangle and when we left it. That, I remember clearly."

"Now that you mention it..." Ryou smiled and looked at the barrier. Then he turned to Yugi. "Come with me to my soul room?"

Yugi understood the reason why, and nodded. "Sure. Of course. Be right back, everyone."

"Wait..." Yami said. "Why are they..."

"Memories," Bakura answered him, with an eye roll. "Probably going to replay the memory of it. He can do that, since it happened recently."

"I'm perfectly capable of explaining myself," Ryou said to Bakura. To everyone else, he said, "Yugi and I will be back shortly."

They both stood up and headed for the Bakuras' hallway.

* * *

**~Transitiony~**

* * *

They came back about two minutes later.

Yugi took his seat, while Ryou remained standing.

"So here's what happened," he said. He began to explain. "We went into the Triangle, still in the other's body, still wearing our own Items. So I had the Ring while I was in Yugi's body and he had the Puzzle while in my body. But when we went into the Triangle, we were wearing the Millenium Item of the person whose soul room we were in. Well I'm not sure about Yugi, but I saw that I was wearing the Millenium Puzzle instead of the Ring. I was watching the part of us bumping into each other in slow motion, so I was able to see exactly what happened when we bumped into each other. The moment we touched the Item the other was wearing as we bumped into each other, the Items we were wearing switched. Even the material length they hung from traded places. So we ended up with our own Items again." Ryou finally sat down.

"We're probably going to have to do a few more tests with this to see why we came into the Triangle with a different Item than the one we were wearing," Yugi said. "Because if we always enter the Triangle wearing the same clothes that we're actually wearing, then shouldn't that apply for Items? Since we're apparently able to project outside of anyone's body by going through their soul room, I want to know if simply doing _that_ will cause us to have different Items when we go back into the Triangle."

"About that..." Bakura said. "I remember when I went back into the Triangle after taking over Marik's body. When I did, I noticed that I had the Millenium Rod in my hand instead of the Ring around my neck. That's how I got it in the first place. When Marik came back into the Triangle and we were in the hallway waiting for you two, I put my arm around his shoulder and touched the spot where the Millenium Ring _would_ be, and it suddenly appeared around my neck. However, the Rod was still in my hand, hidden behind my back. I managed to keep it hidden the whole time until the three of you left."

"So," Yami said, "it seems that we acquire the Millenium Item of the person who's body we take over, initially, then we get our own Item back after we touch the spot where _our_ Item would be- or is- on the person who's soul room we went through. That seems to be the pattern here."

"Makes sense," Malik said. "But what about simply projecting?"

"I don't think that will do anything," Bakura replied. "I can't think of any instance off the top of my head where one of us actually did that, but I am pretty sure simply projecting won't make that happen."

"So that answered _part_ of my question," Yami said. "But not all of it. I was referring to the three of us- Bakura, Malik, and myself- when I said 'accessibility'. Bakura and I reside inside our Millenium Items, so would trading them like Yugi and Ryou did affect our ability to travel to it?"

"I don't think it would," Marik said, "Because you can probably always access your soul room, and from there you can probably always access the Triangle, even if Yugi isn't wearing the Puzzle."

"If that's the case, then why couldn't we communicate when you chained the Puzzle to that dueling platform a long time ago?" Yugi asked. Marik looked confused, so Yugi elaborated. "When I dueled Bandit Keith?"

"Oh! I remember now! Yeah...not sure. That was a long time ago, though. Surely, the bond between you two has grown stronger. And our minds are linked, so maybe that has strengthened the connection?"

"Could be," Yugi replied. "Could be."

"Oh, speaking of the soulswap incident," Bakura suddenly said, "there was something that even _I_ was wondering. You three, well at least Yugi and Ryou, had mild short-term memory loss after I switched you. That was because I forced you to switch soul rooms and bodies. I'm wondering, would the same thing happen if you switched on purpose?"

"It...I don't know," Marik said. "Well, _you_ didn't have any short-term memory loss, I assume, after you took over my body." Bakura nodded to confirm what he had just said. "That was voluntary. Me being forced out wasn't, and Ryou and Yugi's switch wasn't. So, since you took over someone else's body voluntarily but didn't lose your memory, that probably answers your question. No, the same thing _wouldn't_ happen. As long as you don't _force_ anyone to switch, our memories should be fine."

"Sorry again for doing that, Marik. I just wanted to test something out. You regained your memory and everything is okay. At least _someone_ tested it out and now we know. So...no hard feelings?" Bakura smiled hopefully.

"Hm..." Marik tried to frown at him, but couldn't. A small smile broke through. "I suppose not."

"I'm wondering..." Yami started, "which would take longer, teaching our lights what they have to do on Sunday or us testing out the rest of the theories and questions? Because if teaching them what they need to know will take longer, Malik and I could simply spend time answering the rest of the questions while we wait for you to finish."

"No..." Bakura responded. "I want everyone to be there at the same time when we're figuring things out. _I_ want to be there when you're figuring things out. I don't want anyone to miss anything. It might be necessary for later, for what we have to do on Sunday."

"Makes sense."

"I know. That's why I said it."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever."

"I propose that Malik, Marik, Pharaoh, and Yugi all leave the Triangle. I think that the four of you should try to figure stuff out. Try to take the other's respective Millenium Items into the Triangle. Yugi take the Rod and Marik take the Puzzle. You also see if switching Items affects anyone's accessibility to the Triangle. Someone also take off the Millenium Ring to see if it will affect _my_ connection to the hallway. I already know that after a while, it does. But things might have changed since the Triangle formed, and Ryou hasn't taken the Ring off for an extended amount of time in a while so I wouldn't know. Ryou, you stay here to watch what happens to me."

Everyone nodded and prepared to leave.

Yami grinned. "By the way, Bakura, who made you in charge?" he asked, mocking how the other spirit had asked him the same question when the meeting had started.

"I did," Bakura answered, returning the grin. "You were in charge of the last meeting, and Yugi probably led their meeting. I deserve to lead this one because I know more than all of you do."

"You still don't know everything, Kura," Ryou said to him with a smile.

For some reason, Bakura turned around and glared at his hikari. Ryou shrank back slightly under his cold stare.

"That's what I thought you said..." Bakura said as he turned around again. "While you four are out there, everyone should keep track of time so that we can compare the times in and out of the Triangle. It's not a perfect test, but it's good enough for now and we might not have enough time to do a more efficient one today. Another day, when we all have time, we can figure something out. But for now, figuring out the time differences is going to be a multitasking-only thing, as opposed to a separate experiment."

"I'll be okay with that," Yugi said, having been the one who asked the question about the time difference between the different rooms and hallways and outside of their minds.

"Good. Now let's get right to it!"

Everyone went back to their respective hallways.

The Yugis and the Mariks went inside their respective soul rooms and left the Triangle. Meanwhile, Ryou and Bakura stayed behind to wait out the results.

Ryou sat against the wall next to his soul room door. Bakura did the same, but on the other side and of _his_ soul room door.

"Oh...Bakura!" Ryou suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"Speaking of projecting, from when we were talking about it before... Do _not_ use this link to try to cheat for me on my tests! You haven't done it in a while, but I'm just saying not to start-up again. Though, with the keys in place, you probably won't be able or allowed to even project near Yugi or Marik, let alone cheat off of-"

"First of all," Bakura interrupted, "I never stopped doing that. I've only been withholding the right answers from you because you've been getting most of the questions right on your own. And I wouldn't want to cheat off of them. Even if I did, I could do it from your body. The rooms you have tests in are small enough for me to project in the entire room. And before you ask, fine. I won't start-up again." Bakura smiled reassuringly. "You _really_ need to start trusting me more, host."

Ryou wasn't sure if that smile was fake or not, but nonetheless he let the subject drop, nodding once to let Bakura know that he would leave him alone about it.

"Good," Bakura said. "Now, we'll just wait for something to happen..."

* * *

**~Transitiony!~**

* * *

Yami, Yugi, Malik, and Marik returned to the Triangle about half an hour later, in real time. In soul room time, either ten minutes or an hour had passed. No one could really tell which amount of time it had been.

They met up in the Bakuras' hallway.

Everyone shared what had happened both in and out of the Triangle.

Malik and Yami had taken over, because they were the ones who knew how to take stuff into the Triangle, not the lights.  
The first thing that Malik had done upon regaining control of his body was remove the Millenium Ring from around Bakura's neck and set it down a few feet away. When he had, his hair and face had changed from looking like Bakura's to looking like Ryou's.  
The next thing he and Yami had done was trade Items.  
First, Yugi had taken the Rod and tried to go into the Triangle with it. According to Marik, it hadn't worked, and the Rod had stayed in his hand.  
Then, Marik took the Puzzle, and had tried to take that into the Triangle with him. According to Malik, that hadn't worked either. Yami had disappeared off to somewhere once that had happened.  
Then, Yugi had put the Puzzle on again, but before taking it off again Yami retreated into his soul room to see if he would be able to still get from the Triangle if Yugi wasn't wearing the Puzzle but he was already in the Triangle. He found out that he couldn't. Something blocked him from doing so.  
Malik had then put the Millenium Ring back around Ryou's neck. Ryou's face and hair hadn't changed to look like Bakura's.

Ryou informed them that Bakura had disappeared at some point. Several minutes later, Bakura had come out of his soul room.  
Bakura claimed that he had gone into a place he recognized as a room in the back of his soul room, but no one (except for Ryou) who had been in there before could figure out where that would be. When he had returned, he hadn't ended up in the hallway, where he had been before disappearing, but instead ended up in his soul room.

Everyone processed all of the information and figured out what all of it meant. Everyone asked their questions about it and some of them got their answers, but not every question ended up being answered.

* * *

"So we figured that out..." Marik said. "Weren't we supposed to do something else besides ask questions and figure things out?"

"Funny you asked that, Marik," Ryou said. "Weren't you the one who had something to share with the rest of us about your soul room? Something with those cards? You said you would tell us. And on top of that, you ran out on us earlier when you said you would be here to explain. Good thing I found you before we went to the Triangle."

"Ugh...I'd forgotten about that. Do I have to?" It was obvious that he was reluctant to.

"You do," Bakura replied. "It might have an impact on what you three have to do on Sunday. We need to figure out how everyone's soul room works so that the three of you know exactly what you'll have to do for each person. Since you apparently volunteered to explain something about yours, you should totally go first."

Marik groaned. "Ugh. I hate you, Kura."

Bakura grinned. "I hate you too. Now show us."

"Fine..." Marik grumbled.

But...

"Wait a moment," Yami suddenly interjected. "Is this really necessary?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at him. "Why would you ask that?" Bakura asked him.

"I mean this: our soul rooms are the very manifestation of our souls and hearts. And minds, as well. That's something highly personal. Although it might help out on Sunday, I don't believe anyone should _have_ to explain their soul room to anyone." Everyone turned their bodies to him as well, listening even more closely. "No one should be forced to explain their personality to anyone. So why should any of us have to explain our souls- or soul rooms- to anyone else? Especially when we don't all necessarily like or trust each other."

Everyone was silent for a few moments. They all seemed to be processing what Yami was saying.

"But," Bakura finally said, "we all need t-"

"We don't," Yami interrupted. "Think about it. All _three_ of our lights will be doing this. And I am pretty sure that the six of us all know our respective lights and darks, as well as their soul rooms, very well. Yugi knows mine and I know his. I'm assuming that's also true for the rest of you, given how long you have been together." The Bakuras both shifted slightly and uncomfortably at that. Yami pretended not to notice and refrained from commenting on it. "So there will be at least one person who will know the soul room that they are working in, and will know what would be best for that particular room. One of them can guide the other two in organizing and guarding whatever needs to be protected, in the way that would best suit how that soul room works."

For once, Bakura was silent. He really didn't have anything to say to counter that. He just folded his arms and looked indifferent. "Hm...you have a point."

"Of course."

Ryou looked back and forth between Yami and Bakura. He frowned. He wished that someone had realized the same thing yesterday, before he had been forced to share out about _his_ soul room. Yami had just saved Marik from having to talk about his. Ryou wished he had been saved just the same yesterday, but didn't really mind because it was only to Yugi and Marik, whom he liked and trusted. Bakura already knew some things about it, but that couldn't be helped.

_And yet..._

"If Marik isn't going to say anything, I'd like to tell you all something about mine."

Bakura's eyes widened for a second. "Really? That's a bit of a surprise. You are actually volunteering to-"

"I am..." Ryou interrupted quietly. "I already told Yugi and Marik about it, and you already know about it, so I might as well tell Malik and the Pharaoh. You guys can just follow me..." Without another word, Ryou stood up and walked out of the hallway.

A bit caught off guard by his abruptness, they felt obligated to do the same.

The rest of them stood up and followed the hikari out of the hallway and to his soul room.

* * *

Just like what he had done for Yugi and Marik, he showed everyone else one of his memories. But the one he showed them was a bit less personal. It was simply a short "clip" of him handing a report in and trying to explain to the teacher that he _had_, in fact, been given an extension for the assignment by the very teacher he was talking to, who didn't seem to remember doing that. They watched it silently and indifferently. They all knew about this event already, either through Ryou directly or through Yugi or Marik who had been there to see it happen. They were intrigued by the act in itself of replaying the memory, but were not all too surprised about it or that it was possible.

"This is what Yugi and I did a little while ago," Ryou explained, as the memory faded away, "when we went to check something. I didn't get a chance to explain it earlier. All of you know that I have an excellent memory. I think that's why my soul room has this feature. I can replay either distant or very recent memories and interact with some of the components of them. Distant, depending on the nature of the event, is in terms of months _or_ years. Very recent, again, depending on the nature of the memory, is in terms of seconds and minutes _or_ days. Only 1-7 days, though. So it's never based on weeks or hours."

"So that's how you cheat on all of your tests," Bakura said with a smirk. "You just replay all of the lessons you've forgotten and waste no time because of the time flow difference."

Ryou blushed, his eyes squeezed shut, his fists clenched tightly, and his jaw locked. Obviously, what Bakura had said had struck a nerve with him. He looked like he was about to shout something back, but he took a deep breath, mentally and physically relaxed, and replied in a quiet voice without opening his eyes, "I do not cheat, Spirit. You know that. I use this to study. _Not_ cheat."

Bakura's smirk only grew. He folded his arms.

Ryou visibly calmed down further and continued.

"Now, I assume that no one will be sneaking into my soul room to try to take advantage of this. It wouldn't- _shouldn't_- really work anyway because you wouldn't know what to look for or how to get it. It's _my_ memory, and I'm the only one who can access it in my own mind, let alone replay it live in my soul room."

"So basically," Bakura said, "you're worried about something that you yourself just proved that you really have no need to worry about. Brilliant."

Ryou frowned and glared at him for a moment. "Is it really necessary to comment on everything I say, do, or think?"

"Perhaps."

"Well stop it."

"Make me."

Ryou stared at him for a few more seconds, then turned away.

"Exactly. You can't. So shut up and deal with it."

Ryou resisted the urge to respond to that. Not that he even knew how to respond, at that moment.

Instead, he just led everyone out of his soul room.

They decided to walk back to Marik and Malik's hallway, with Ryou leading the way.

He quietly sighed in relief. _That went better than I expected, if you don't count my dark's annoying commentary..._

* * *

As they walked, Yugi suddenly remembered something. The notebook in his hand, which he had been writing in occasionally the entire time. He wanted to wait until they were in the other hallway to mention it, though.

When they all were back in the other hallway, and while everyone decided where they were going to stand and repositioned themselves, Yugi gave Ryou a look and hoped the other hikari would notice, which he did, several seconds later. Yugi nodded, and Ryou nodded back understandingly. Both of them tried to do the same with Marik. Marik noticed fairly quickly. They nodded at him, and he took the hint and nodded back.

Marik cleared his throat. Everyone turned their attention to him. Yugi and Ryou moved so they were standing near him. Yugi stood to Marik's left and Ryou stood to Yugi's left.

Marik started. "Now that we've figured out some things about the Triangle and stuff, we feel like the time is right to tell you what we're about to tell you three."

Yugi spoke next. "So, just before we left, we made a list of rules we thought would help keep some order and set some standards in the Triangle."

"We didn't want to share them until now," Ryou continued, "because we might have had to alter some of them as a result of this meeting. Which we did, now that we know a little bit more."

Marik spoke next. "Yugi chose to write and edit the list in his notebook so we wouldn't end up having multiple and alternate versions."

"I've been editing it as the meeting has been progressing, so now we have a list based on what we now know everyone and thing else can do."

"Oh Ra..." Bakura mumbled. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Hey shut up!" Marik cried. "Don't be like that, Bakura. We made a set of rules for this place, so deal with them."

Bakura simply grumbled.

Yugi turned to a page in his notebook and waved the other two hikaris over. They all looked at the list together. The three of them started going down the list and reading in turn, starting with Ryou, then Yugi, then Marik. The pattern continued in that order. They all read the heading of the page in unison.

"Rules of the Triangular Compromise"

"Wonderful title," Malik muttered sarcastically. Marik glared at him briefly.

"Number one," Ryou started. "Do not attempt to steal soul room keys."  
"2) Do not attempt to break into anyone's soul room."  
"3) If you find yourself in a soul room by accident or with permission, don't go snooping around."  
"4) If a key is found, return it to its owner."  
"5) Do not take over someone else's body through their soul room or hallway without the permission of those in that room/hallway."  
"6) No physical or magical combat allowed anywhere in the Triangle."  
"7) Do not force anyone into a room or hallway, and do not force anyone to take control of a body that isn't theirs. (Basically, don't do what Bakura did.)"

"Oh I just _love_ how you aimed that purposely at me," Bakura said sarcastically.

"Don't interrupt."

They continued, with Yugi reading the next one.

"8) ABSOLUTELY NO STEALING, TAMPERING WITH, OR EXPERIMENTING WITH any of the Millenium Items. This includes the other four Items as well. (I'll admit that we made this because of Malik and Bakura.)"

"Wonderful. _Another_ rule aimed at me."

"Calm down, Bakura," Marik said before reading the next rule.

"10) No spying on other members of the Triangle through projecting."  
"11) NO SHADOW GAMES. NO EXCEPTIONS. AT ALL. EVER. NO SHADOW REALM, EITHER."  
"12) Do not discuss anything about the Triangle or anything mentioned in the meetings to those outside of the Triangle."  
"13) Even members of the same hallway must comply with these rules in regard to each other."

When the last rule had been read, the three lights looked up at the three lights, who had been listening carefully and going over each rule in their head.

"Before anyone says anything," Yugi quickly said, "let me remind you all everyone here agreed to make us the peacekeepers. All three of you agreed to leave us to be in charge of security and order and peace in our Triangular Hallway, so you all _have_ to follow these rules."

"And what if we don't?" Bakura asked causally. "Not that _I_ won't," he quickly added. "But I'm just saying...if someone does break a rule, what are you going to do about it?"

"We shouldn't _have_ to do anything about it," Ryou said. "Everyone should follow these rules because we said so. And because that's what we're entitled to do because you said we could."

"And what if you _do_ have to do something? What _will_ you do?"

Ryou took Bakura saying that as a sign of him not wanting to comply with the rules, and wondering what the hikaris planned to do to keep him in line. Ryou gave Bakura such a serious and stern stare that the yami just nodded and mumbled, "Of course. I agree." _What the hell did I just agree to? I'm probably going to end up breaking one of them either on purpose or accidentally._

_"Don't think I didn't hear that,"_ Ryou said to him mentally.

_"Mind your own business! Stop reading my mind!"_

_"You do it to me."_

_"So?"_

_"Bakura..."_

_"*sigh* Fine. I'll be serious about this..."_

Ryou smiled. "Thank you." He looked at Yami and Malik. "And you two...?"

"Of course," Yami said. "I can agree to that. What about you, Malik?" Yami turned to him expectantly.

"Well...I might have a probleHH-!" Yami elbowed him in the ribs. "Ahhh... Damn it... Yeah... I can agree to abide by those rules." Then he whispered to Yami, "You didn't need to do that. You know I was just joking!"

Yami whispered back, "With you, I can never tell..."

"If anyone else needs any incentive, "Marik said, "Yugi, Ryou, remember Hammurabi's code? 'An eye for an eye'?" The other two hikaris nodded. "Well, how about we do the same idea here, except 'a rule for a rule'. If someone breaks a rule against a certain member of the Triangle or of a certain hallway, that certain member or members aren't entitled to follow the rule for that person."

"What?" Yugi asked. "That doesn't seem like..."

"Think about it. It's actually a good idea. Basically, if I break into your soul room, then you have every right to break into mine. It's a certain form of revenge. Or compensation. Or payback. Whatever you want to call it."

Ryou spoke up, quietly. "Marik I don't think that's..."

"If that's how we're going about doing this," Bakura said, cutting Ryou off, "then fine. I don't want any of you in my soul room, so I'll do my best to resist the urge to break into yours." Everyone could hear the sarcasm in that last part of his sentence. But he was serious about agreeing.

Everyone else actually agreed to that.

"See?" Marik whispered to Yugi and Ryou. "That way, everything is totally fair, we ourselves aren't obligated to do anything when someone breaks a rule against someone else, and it should keep the peace. And I know Bakura. He's serious about agreeing with this."

"I know him well, also," Ryou said. "And...you're right."

"Question..." Yugi said. "Why do you two always treat Bakura as...I don't know, some sort of strange creature that very few people understand? I keep wondering that."

Ryou and Marik exchanged glances. "Well...because he sort of is," they replied in unison.

Yugi didn't have anything to say to that.

The three hikaris turned back to the yamis and smiled. "Good," Marik said. "Now that that's settled..."

Bakura took over once again. "So," he said, "I think it's time to teach you three what you're going to need to do on Sunday. If you're ready to, that is."

They three hikaris exchanged glances. Ryou looked slightly uneasy, Marik looked a bit uncertain, and Yugi looked somewhat unwilling. But still, they turned to him and nodded once.

They were the only ones that everyone trusted to do this. It would probably be invasive into everyone's soul room, that's why. And although no one was exactly introverted or paranoid, no one wanted anyone else in his soul room with access to the very manifestation of everything about their soul. So of course, the person or people to do it would have to be very trustworthy by everyone's standards. And Marik, Ryou, and Yugi, in that order, were the ones everyone trusted.

"Good," Bakura said. "If your darks don't mind, I'll take you into my soul room, so I can show you what to do." He looked at Malik and Yami, who nodded to show that they were okay with that. "You won't actually be doing anything, though. You'll need that day of rest scheduled for tomorrow to prepare for it. So just follow me and I'll start explaining." He started walking backwards towards the barrier that led to his and Ryou's hallway.

The hikaris exchanged looks one last time, then slowly started following Bakura.

When they were following him, Bakura turned around and led them out of the hallway.

Yami and Malik watched them leave.

* * *

**~Transition~**

* * *

They came back half an hour later, according to Yami's watch. I'm that time, Yami and Malik had moved to Yami and Yugi's hallway for some reason. Yugi and Marik had sensed that already and had informed Bakura. No one asked why they had moved.

"Now that these three know what to do..." Bakura said, putting a hand on one of Marik's and one of Yugi's shoulders, "we're finally done in here." Yugi shrugged off Bakura's hand while Marik simply removed Bakura's other hand manually. The two lights ran over to their respective darks.

"Sorry, but I have just one more question..." Yugi began.

"Yes, Yugi?" Marik asked.

"Well...what exactly does the Triangle look like? I know how it's laid out, sort of. I think it might be somewhat helpful to make a sort of diagram for it. I don't know...maybe for reference purposes?"

Everyone else nodded slowly. "Not a bad idea," Yami said. "Bakura, that first day, you and I went into this hallway because you wanted to check something out. Do you know the basic layout of the Triangle, from that?"

"I do," Bakura replied. "Yes, we should make some sort of diagram..."

"I'll be right back," Ryou suddenly said. He left the hallway and headed for his own. He wasn't gone for long, and came back in under a minute. He was holding a piece of chart paper that had been cut in half.

"I take it you got that from your soul room?" Bakura guessed.

"I did. And also markers." He held up his other hand, in which he held four markers: black, yellow, blue, and purple. "Who wants to start?"

"I will," Bakura said. He took the black marker from Ryou. "You know how absurdly skilled I am at drawing straight lines. Someone hold this up to the wall for me?" Ryou and Marik moved to hold the paper against the wall next to Yugi's soul room door.

He moved over to the paper and uncapped the black marker...

* * *

**~Transition~**

* * *

The last person who had a marker stepped away from the paper and capped the marker. He handed it back to Ryou.

Everyone looked at the diagram they had all helped create, which was taped to the wall for the moment (Ryou had gone back to his soul room to get scotch tape; no one asked why he had random amounts of art supplies in his soul room).

It was a simple, 3D representation of the Triangle.

There was a huge equilateral triangle in the center of the paper, taking up most of the space, and a smaller equilateral triangle inside it, its center a few centimeters above the center of the bigger triangle. The smaller one was divided into 3 equal sections. Lower section was purple, the left section was yellow, and the right section was blue. Rectangles were drawn on the outermost walls of the sections, representing doors. These three sections were the darks' soul rooms (and Marik's, as well). The space between the inner triangle and outer triangle looked like two walls meeting at a corner. The left wall was yellow, while the right wall was blue. Doors were also drawn on these two walls as well. The inner triangle was colored darker than the outer triangle. A black rectangle was drawn below the bottom side of the bigger triangle to indicate the wall on that side. The floor was grey.

**(Basically, it looked like the cover for this story (and A Volcanic Escape), excluding the hikaris.)**

From what the six of them knew about the Triangle and how their hallways connected, this was probably the most accurate representation of the layout of their Triangular Soul Hallway.

The six of them stared at it for a while. Each of them felt like they knew the Triangle a bit better, now that they had made this diagram of it.

"Should we somehow make copies of this or what?" someone asked.

"Maybe," someone else replied. "But where would we put them? And how would we make copies? Why would we need to do that anyway?"

"Simply for reference, maybe? If so, then we'd probably want to be able to refer back to it at any time, which wouldn't really be possible if it's just hung up in one place."

"I don't even know if I have that much paper to spare, anyway. And would we really just copy this exact design two or four more times?"

"Where are you getting two and four from?"

"Two other hallways _or_ four other soul rooms."

"We wouldn't even need it to be the exact same design anyway. And not necessarily the same size, either."

A flash of light caught their attention and interrupted their conversation. They turned to its source: the paper with the diagram of the Triangle.

A small light shone in the center of the diagram. They stated at if for a few seconds. Then, all six of them felt their writing hand being slowly tugged towards the light. They all backed away, but their arms stayed outstretched towards the light and they still felt the tug. Their hands were turned so that their palms faced the diagram. They didn't try to free their hands of the pull, somehow sensing that they would be fine.

Then, suddenly, the tug faded and their arms fell limp at their sides.

Everyone just stood there looking at each other in confusion. Then, Ryou thought to look at his hand.

"Hey!" he shouted. "There's some kind of symbol on my hand..." He held up his palm for the others to see. On it, there appeared to be an outline of the diagram of the Triangle printed into his skin. "Did that strange light do this?"

The others looked at their hands as well and saw that they, too, had the same symbols on the palm of the hand they used to write with. It was a much simpler version of the Triangle diagram. The markings were a bit darker than their skin tone.

"I can't feel it," Marik commented as he ran a finger over one of the lines. "It must simply be printed or tattooed on our hands...but why?"

Everyone turned expectantly to Bakura.

He raised his hands helplessly. "Don't look at me! I have no idea what just happened! I don't know everything."

Ryou rolled his eyes at that. "And yet you always seem to be claiming that you do."

"Shut up, host."

As expected, the name bothered Ryou and made him shut up.

"So what _did_ just happen?" Marik asked. "And why?"

"I have no idea," Bakura said. "Maybe because we wanted to copy it down somewhere...and the...Triangle gave us what we wanted?"

No one could think of another explanation, so they just went along with it.

"I hope they won't- WHOA!" Yugi exclaimed. "I was just pressing my thumb into my palm for a few seconds, and the lines changed colors."

Everyone tried that; they pressed their thumbs into the center of their palms for a few seconds. About five seconds later, the lines turned colors that corresponded with the colors of the colors used on the diagram: yellow, purple, and blue. After about ten seconds, the colors faded away.

Everyone looked up and an awkward silence fell over the hallway. No one knew what to make of the situation, and no one knew what to do about it.

"As I was about to say," Yugi said to break the silence, "I hope that no one will ask us about them. If these marks follow us out of the Triangle, it might cause a problem since we want to keep this a secret and people might ask about our hands."

"Who is going to be looking at your palms to even wonder about them?" Malik asked the three lights.

"Anyone," the three of them replied.

"Raising our hand to say something..."  
"Handing something to someone..."  
"Holding out our hand to receive something..."  
"Waving hello or good-bye..."  
"Possibly during P.E..."

"Okay okay okay! I get it!" Malik cried, not wanting to hear them continue that list. "Even if people _do_ notice and they _do_ ask, you don't have to tell them. You'd better not tell them."

"Why would we?" Marik said.

"I wouldn't have a reason to," Ryou added.

"And if they ask, just tell them that it's none of their business," Bakura said. Then he smirked and said to Ryou, "Of course, you'd be too polite to use those exact words..."

"Which there is nothing wrong with," Ryou said quietly.

"...but you'd still tell them something along those lines, right?"

"I suppose so."

"Good," Yami said. "I _really_ don't want anything about this leaking."

"I'm pretty sure that none of us do," Malik agreed. "Things would get way too complicated between each of us and the rest of the world. I don't need to go into detail about how, right?"

Everyone nodded. They understood.

"So I guess that means we're done in here? For good, this time?"

Everyone murmured their agreements. It did seem like it was time to end the meeting already. If anything, any of them could ask last-minute questions on Sunday, before the hikaris did their thing.

Without another word, because they would see each other again shortly, they all headed back for their hallways and soul rooms.

After making sure they had the notebooks with them, everyone left the Triangle.

* * *

**AND WE ARE OUT OF THE MEETING! And also out of the Triangle, obviously.**

**Just another transitional AN here, just to keep things organized...**

**So um...ya **

**Back to the story!**

* * *

The hikaris had all run to their soul rooms while the yamis had just walked, so they were able to take over first.

Moments later, the darks projected themselves. Everyone was out.

Yugi automatically looked at his hand. The symbol was still there, just as he had suspected. "Guys, the weird marks are still there. I'm still trying to figure out why this would happen..."

"And I really do hope that no one will ask us about it," Ryou added.

"Right..." Yugi and Marik said.

"Again, you don't have to tell them," Malik said. "You'll think of something."

"Sure..." Marik replied.

"So," Yugi said, standing up. "We should probably get going. We can talk more on the way back, until we have to go in different directions. Anyone know what time it is?"

"You have a watch, Yugi."

"I know. I was being rhetorical..." As he said this, he checked his watch. "It's 5PM. Wow. A lot of time passed. More than we realized. We really _should_ get going!"

"I agree," Marik said.

The three of them started heading out of the building the same way they got in (except for Ryou, who had let Bakura scale the building to get onto the roof).

"I wonder what Ishizu has been doing all day," Marik said as they walked.

"Hopefully, not wearing the Necklace," Malik said.

"Of course. Which of the six visions have we figured out already?"

"Only one," Malik replied. "Yours, about eyes changing color."

"Oh. Right. Someone should keep track of who is dealing with what vision. We already assigned them, but we still should write it down and check them off so we know as we figure them out."

"I'll do it," Ryou said. "I have a feeling that I will be the best person to do this. Yugi already wrote the rules, so I'll-"

"I actually think it should be Marik," Bakura interrupted. "He's closest to Ishizu anyway, and he might need to ask her about one of her visions at any given time. In fact, you should ask her to tell you each time she sees something about the Triangle, and then record it in the notebook you have there. It would be much more organized, and you can add to or write notes about any of them, should we need to. That sound good?"

"Of course. I'll do that..."

Bakura stayed silent for the rest of the walk. He would do so even after they split up, not speaking to Ryou and instead choosing to retreat into his soul room.

The whole time back, the hikaris talked about what they would do tomorrow on their break day. However, they didn't figure out any solid plan, and decided to just figure it out tomorrow. After finishing the conversation with Yugi and Ryou, Marik tried to get Bakura to converse with him. It didn't really work. Bakura seemed to be thinking too hard about something to keep a conversation going. And after Malik's comment earlier, Marik let it go after a tries instead of pushing more like he usually would. Yami and Malik whispered about something to each other that they didn't let anyone else hear. No one really cared much anyway.

They went their separate ways home after several minutes of walking.

When the hikaris split, their yamis decided to go back into their soul rooms for the rest of the walk home.

Everyone- absolutely everyone- was relieved that the next day, Saturday, would be a day of rest and not a day of worry.

* * *

***The number is actually 3000. I know the dub says 5000, which is why I say 5 more often than 3. But apparently it actually WAS 3000 years ago. Look it up. If I've said 5000 before in this story, either ignore it or let me know where and in what chapter because I would like to fix it in order to stay consistent.  
**An inside joke between Marik and Bakura. The idea is that it's implied that it's just some random thing between them that happened some time ago. No need for explanations. Makes the story more realistic and gives it more depth, in my opinion. (lolz this is one of my favorite parts of writing this chapter! ^_^)**

**The other day, I was going through this story because I wanted to check something, and I realized that there's a LOT that needs fixing. I'm not entirely satisfied with Part 1 anyway as a whole, but I realized that I have a LOT that needs fixing, more than I realized. I'll go back and fix those (again) in the time before the next update. You MIGHT want to re-read this story again, just so you don't get lost. Because I am XD.  
Ugh. I think this story is actually starting to stress me out. But I'm still having fun and I still love this story.**

**So the last few updates have been MONTHS apart, and I'm sorry for that. I'll tell you right now that the update for the chapter where they make the keys and cases may take just as long because I have literally NOTHING written for that as of right now. However, to make sure you aren't left waiting so long, I will hold back on next chapter for some time. It's already 100% done and just needs to be site-edited, but hopefully if I hold back on it for a while, the wait for the chapter that takes place on Sunday won't seem so far away!**

**I suddenly have the urge to make concept art for this story ~_~  
Hey remember what I said before about shorter ANs? I guess I lied...**

**Next chapter:  
PART 2: Chapter 6- The Second Break (AKA Stressful Relaxation 2)  
~The hikaris have fun on their day free from worrying about the Triangle. The yamis attempt to do the same.**

**See you next chapter!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEE~!**


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